Earnest Student Loans Review 2023

Borrower tip: Refinancing federal student loans into a private student loan can make you ineligible for certain types of protections, such as income-driven repayment plans, federal debt forgiveness programs and forbearance/deferment options through the Department of Education.

Student loan options from Earnest include:

Earnest asks applicants to submit their education and employment history for a full picture of their achievements. The company also considers your or your co-signer’s credit score, credit history, and income. Students can apply for undergraduate or graduate student loans online and typically receive a response within 72 hours. Earnest also allows student loan applications to be submitted over the phone. Once approved, students can pick a payment plan or defer repayment for nine months post-graduation. The process could take between two to five weeks for the loan to be funded, depending on the applicant and the school’s financial aid office.

Earnest’s student loans and refinancing are available at both fixed and variable rates. You can choose a loan term of between five to 20 years. The minimum in-school loan amount is $1,000, and loans of up to 100% of the school’s certified cost of attendance are available. There is no application, origination or late fee.

There is a 0.25-percentage-point interest rate discount if you choose to set up automatic payments. Borrowers can choose their monthly payment amount while still in school when applying for the loan. Accounts in good standing can skip a payment once every 12 months, but it has to be paid later. Earnest’s nine-month grace period after graduation is longer than the typical six months that other student loan lenders offer.

Earnest will also match a competitor’s contractual interest rate for an in-school loan, excluding discounts for autopay or good grades. To qualify, borrowers need to contact Earnest’s customer service team and upload a loan agreement from a competitor. If approved, the borrower can view and sign an updated agreement in their Earnest account. The competitor offer must have been made within the last 30 days and meet other conditions. Once your rate match is finalized, Earnest will give you a $100 Amazon gift card.

Earnest offers a quick online eligibility check so you can get an idea of whether you qualify without a hard inquiry on your credit report. Earnest has different eligibility requirements for each loan type.

To qualify for an independent undergraduate or graduate student loan, borrowers must:

Co-signed student loans require:

For refinancing student loans, you must:

Borrowers may be able to refinance a loan for a completed degree, a degree that will be completed by the end of the semester or a degree that hasn’t been completed. For the latter, borrowers must meet these requirements:

Earnest student loans require either the borrower or co-signer to have a FICO score of at least 650. In the application process, Earnest also looks at an individual’s education and employment history – putting less weight on the credit score.

For student loan refinancing, Earnest requires a credit score of 680. Those who haven’t completed their degree may need to have a score of 700.

Earnest offers loans in Washington, D.C., and in all states except Nevada. It also doesn’t offer student loan refinancing in Kentucky.

Earnest is accredited and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. It also has an excellent rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars with Trustpilot, based on more than 5,500 reviews.

In 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 17 student loan complaints about Earnest. The most common issue was related to dealing with the lender or servicer, mainly regarding how payments were handled or receiving bad information. Earnest provided a timely response to all issues, and all were closed with explanation.