I just recently took out a private student loan with a 10.00 APR interest! How long should I wait until trying to refinance the loan? I’m currently working full-time and taking online courses. I have a good to excellent credit score.
Because you’re working full time it’s not out of the question to consider refinancing right away. Not all companies that offer private student loans offer refinancing so you may be able to find a better interest rate.
A good first step is to check out the rate estimators on a few of the most competitive refinancing companies. Take a look at Earnest, Elfi, & CommonBond, and consider looking at SoFi and Laurel Road. The rate estimators will collect some information about income, existing debt, and other underwriting criteria, then do a soft credit pull and give you an estimated interest rate if you were to refinance. The more accurate the information you put in, the more accurate the estimate will be.
The rate estimators should also let you know whether or not your specific circumstances qualify to refinance. Interest rates have been going up in the market, so the rate estimators will let you know if it’s worth it to fill out formal applications or not.
In the meantime, as a tuition.io user you can link this new loan to your account. Your account will show how much interest is expected to accrue over the life of the loan and what kind of impact making extra payments on that particular student loan will have in terms of the amount of interest you’ll pay and how long you’ll be repaying.