2023 Award Winner: Best Private Student Loan Refinancing Lender
Laurel Road is a top choice for student loan borrowers looking to refinance at a lower interest rate, offering the most competitive fixed and variable rates of all the lenders we analyze. Borrowers are able to refinance their student loans with a co-signer to boost their chances of approval and potentially qualify for an even lower interest rate. For those who are on the fence about co-signing a student loan, Laurel Road offers a co-signer release option after the borrower makes on-time payments for 36 consecutive months.
Laurel Road offers refinancing for undergraduate and parent student loans, as well as for some associate degree loans.
The entire Laurel Road student loan application process is online. There are no application or origination fees. The application asks for information about your loan, education, employment and co-signer’s income, if relevant. For most Laurel Road loans, you need to provide a photo ID.
The company will do a soft credit pull – with your permission – and provide preliminary rates. After you give all the requested information and go through a hard credit inquiry, you can select your loan term following approval. The first student loan payment is due one month from the date of disbursement.
Laurel Road provides fixed- and variable-rate student loans without origination fees. The maximum interest rate on a fixed loan with terms of five to 10 years is 10.60% and 10.50% for loans of more than 10 years.
Rates as of 06/05/2023, rates subject to change. Terms and Conditions Apply. All products subject to credit approval.
Borrowers can qualify for a 0.25-point interest rate discount for setting up automatic loan payments. The discount is applied to the principal balance.
If you apply and qualify for a Laurel Road Student Loan Cashback Card, it would allow you to redeem 2% cashback toward any eligible student loan.
Laurel Road student loans are available to borrowers who are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Undergraduate students can refinance as early as their final semester of school if they have a signed contract or letter of employment.
Borrowers with an associate degree in certain fields – including dental hygiene, radiation therapy, nursing and diagnostic medical sonography – may qualify to refinance with Laurel Road for up to $50,000. Note that in this scenario, the applicant must either be currently enrolled and in the final term of the associate degree program at a Title IV-eligible school with an offer of employment in the same field as the associate degree, or have graduated from a school that is Title IV eligible with an associate degree in an eligible program.
Laurel Road discloses a minimum FICO credit score of 660 but does not disclose on the website the maximum debt-to-income ratio to qualify .
A satisfactory credit score, credit history and employment history are required. Borrowers can apply with a co-signer if they don’t meet the credit criteria as it may improve their chances of being approved.
Laurel Road offers student loan refinancing in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
KeyBank has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is BBB-accredited. Laurel Road has a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating on Trustpilot based on over 390 reviews.
In 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 11 complaints for KeyCorp about KeyBank’s student loans. All received a timely response.
Laurel Road has a customer service line and live chat available from Monday through Friday. Email help@laurelroad.com, or call 833-427-2265 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time every day.
Students can check their rate in five minutes online. Once you make it through the application process, you can upload documents, add a co-signer, and accept and e-sign the necessary disclosures in the Laurel Road dashboard. You can make online payments, and if you’re not enrolled in autopay, you’ll receive a digital monthly statement.
Your first payment is due one month after the loan is disbursed. Laurel Road does not offer in-school deferment.
Borrowers who experience financial hardship, such as job loss or natural disaster, may apply for forbearance. Laurel Road offers full or partial forbearance for three months at a time, up to a 12-month aggregate during the loan term of at least 10 years. Each request for forbearance is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
If a borrower dies, Laurel Road will forgive the remaining student loan balance. Laurel Road may also discharge some or all of the balance if a borrower demonstrates a significant, unanticipated and permanent reduction in income due to a permanent disability. Only loans originated after spring 2015 are eligible.
- Borrowers with undergraduate degrees who want to refinance their loans to a lower interest rate.
- Borrowers with associate degrees in qualifying fields who want to refinance their loans to a lower interest rate.
- Parents who want to refinance a parent student loan so that the child assumes the remaining debt.