The Best Student Loan Companies

Ascent’s cosigned, credit-based loan offers five repayment terms — 5, 7, 10, 12, and 15 years — and four repayment plans. This makes them a strong option for borrowers seeking flexible repayment terms.

They also provide borrowers with added bonuses, such as engaging financial wellness courses and over $80,000 in scholarship opportunities each year.

Loan Terms: 5, 7, 10, 12, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Offers one to three months of forbearance for economic hardship, for up to 24 months total over the life of the loan

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 24 months of on-time payments

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• Auto debit discount of 0.25%
• Variety of repayment options
• Cosigner release available after 12 months

Cons

• Students enrolled less than half time are ineligible
• Cosigner release is unavailable to international students
• Charges late fees

Ascent also offers two non-cosigned loan options — one credit-based loan, and one outcomes-based loan. The credit-based loan option is best for borrowers that don’t have a cosigner but have strong finances. The outcomes-based loan is best for borrowers without a cosigner that don’t have the credit score or income to qualify for a credit-based loan.

The Custom Choice LoanⓇ is powered by Cognition Financial and funded by Citizens. They offer competitive interest rates and strong borrower benefits.

Upon graduation, borrowers may be eligible for a 2% principal reduction. The reduction applies to the total dollar amount disbursed, excluding any amounts that are reduced, canceled, or returned. For example, if $20,000 were disbursed, the borrower would receive $400 off.

Loan Terms: 7, 10, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Borrowers can receive 12 total months of forbearance, provided in two-month increments.

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 36 consecutive, on-time monthly principal and interest payments

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• 0.25% auto debit discount
• 2% principal deduction upon graduation
• No fees

Cons

• Only offers three repayment term options
• Forbearance option is less generous that other lenders

The Custom Choice LoanⓇ allows for both greater-than-minimum payments and biweekly payments via autopay. This allows borrowers to optimize their loan payoff strategy with automation, which some other lenders don’t allow.

College Ave is a solid loan option for borrowers who want a flexible repayment term and don’t plan to release their cosigner until the loan is paid off. Borrowers will need a credit score in the mid-600s to qualify.

Loan Terms: 5, 8, 10, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Offers up to 12 months of forbearance due to financial hardship, unemployment, or disability

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after half of the original repayment term elapses

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• Auto debit discount of 0.25%
• Several loan term options

Cons

• Strict cosigner release policy

College Ave partners with Payce Rewards, a free cashback service, that allows borrowers to earn cashback for in-store and online purchases at major retailers like Starbucks, CVS, and Walmart. If you opt to use it, Payce will automatically direct cashback to pay down your College Ave loan.

Discover offers a straightforward student loan option, complete with a multi-year loan option for eligible borrowers. If you’re a new student, Discover provides a seamless process for borrowing more each year you need it.

While they don’t have the option to release a cosigner, they offer flexible repayment options and a variety of assistance programs if you experience financial hardship.

And while there is only one repayment term option, you can repay the loan sooner without penalty. Discover does allow for greater-than-minimum payments via autopay, so you can set the payment amount to reflect your ideal payoff timeline.

Loan Terms: 15 years

Forbearance Options: Discover offers several assistance options, including one forbearance option:

• Hardship Assistance: Interest rate is temporarily lowered to reduce your monthly payment. Program is limited to 12 months.
• Hardship Forbearance: Temporarily postpone your monthly minimum payment.
• Reduced Payment Program: Temporarily lower your monthly minimum payment, for up to 36 months.
• Early Repayment Assistance Program: Temporarily postpone your minimum monthly payment for up to 3 bills, if you’re within the first 3 months of the repayment period.

Cosigner Release Policy: None

Pros

• 0.25% auto debit discount
• No fees
• Offers rewards for good grades
• Offers several forbearance and assistance options

Cons

• Interest rates are higher than some competitors
• No cosigner release
• One repayment term option

If you earn a GPA of 3.0 or higher, Discover will give you a cash reward as part of their Good Grades rewards program. The reward is equal to around 1% of the disbursed loan balance. For example, if $10,000 was disbursed, you’d receive a $100 reward.

Earnest is one of the top student loan lenders, offering competitive interest rates, custom repayment terms, and flexible repayment options.

Earnest uses “precision pricing,” which allows borrowers to select the exact repayment term they’d like between five and 15 years. For example, you could select a term of 11 years and three months if you’d like.

Unlike the industry standard of a six month grace period, repayment on Earnest private student loans begins nine months after graduation. During the repayment process, you can also skip a payment once every 12 months if you need to — although this shouldn’t be used just because, as interest will accrue in the meantime.

Loan Terms: Borrowers can choose any term between five and 15 years.

Forbearance Options: Earnest offers up to 12 months of forbearance for eligible borrowers. They also offer a short-term interest-only repayment option in 6-month increments for up to 48 months.

Cosigner Release Policy: None

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• 0.25% auto debit discount
• No fees
• Nine-month grace period
• Custom repayment term

Cons

• No cosigner release
• Loans aren’t available for borrowers in Nevada.

In most cases, student loan payments are due on a specific, preset day of the month, and you don’t have much, if any, say in what that date is. However, with Earnest, you can adjust your payment date to be within seven days before or after the preset date. This is especially helpful if you’d like to align your paychecks with your payment dates.

Additionally, borrowers in Nevada are ineligible for Earnest private student loans.

EDvestinU student loans are funded by a nationally-recognized nonprofit provider, and proceeds support community scholarships and college access activities. This is different from the traditional for-profit lender, which can provide a unique option for borrowers whom this is important to.

That said, EDvestinU is only available in select states:

• Alaska
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

Loan Terms: 7, 10, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Available on a case-by-case basis.

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 36 months of consecutive on-time payments.

Pros

• 0.25% auto debit discount
• Cosigner release after 36 consecutive on-time payments

Cons

• Interest rates are higher than some competitors
• Unavailable in several states
• Vague forbearance options

To borrow with EDvestinU, either you or your cosigner must have a minimum annual gross income of $30,000. If applying alone, EDvestinU is ideal for borrowers with strong finances.

ELFI, also known as Education Loan Finance, is a division of the Tennessee-based SouthEast Bank. While their private student loan offering is fairly standard, they’re an exceptional lender for borrowers that need to take on a large debt balance.

They pride themselves on their low rates, various repayment options and terms, and their strong customer service. This is consistent with their customer reviews, which earns them a 4.9 out of 5 stars on TrustPilot — a score that’s higher than most competitors.

Loan Terms: 5, 7, 10, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Offers up to 12 months of financial hardship forbearance

Cosigner Release Policy: None

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• Several repayment terms and repayment plans
• Offers up to 12 months of forbearance

Cons

• No cosigner release
• Charges late fees
• No auto debit discount

While ELFI doesn’t offer an auto debit discount, they claim that their interest rates already “include” the discount because they are the lowest possible rates.

LendKey provides borrowers with access to a wide network of lesser-known credit unions and community banks, allowing you to work with smaller lenders that may offer more competitive interest rates.

LendKey also developed the Academic Credit Score, which is a proprietary scoring model that uses both you and your cosigner’s credit score (if applicable) and your GPA to score you. A good score could land you an interest rate discount.

The major downside of LendKey student loans is the lack of repayment options. Borrowers will need to make some form of payment while in school, which may not be ideal for some. However, for borrowers that can afford to make payments while in school, having one of these repayment plans can help you get out of debt faster.

Loan Terms: 5, 10, or 15 years

Forbearance Options: Offers up to 18 months of forbearance, given in six-month increments, which is longer than most other lenders.

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 24 months of consecutive on-time payments

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• 0.25% auto debit discount
• Offers up to 18 months of forbearance
• Offers rate discounts for good grades

Cons

• Fewer repayment term options than some other lenders
• Charges a late fee of 5% of the unpaid amount
• Does not offer full in-school deferment

LendKey borrowers get access to a variety of borrower benefits, including:

• Career Assistance, powered by NextJob. This includes online mock interviews, a resumé builder, hidden job opportunities, and a personality test to uncover new career paths.
• Personalized credit acceleration plans, powered by Curu. This includes free credit reports and scores, personalized credit plans, free 1:1 coaching with certified credit consultants, and smart payment alerts.
• Federal student loan assistance, powered by Savi. Savi is an online concierge service that helps borrowers find the best federal loan forgiveness and repayment plans for them.

Nelnet Bank offers competitive interest rates and a high borrowing limit, making them perfect for borrowers applying without a cosigner. That said, you’ll need a strong financial background to qualify, as they do have stricter eligibility criteria than some other lenders.

Loan Terms: Does not disclose.

Forbearance Options: Offers up to 12 months of forbearance, in three-month increments, for financial hardship, unemployment, or disability

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 24 consecutive, on-time principal and interest payments, or the lump sum equivalent

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• 0.25% auto debit discount
• No fees
• Cosigner release available after 24 consecutive, on-time payments

Cons

• Unclear loan repayment terms

Nelnet Bank also offers student loan refinancing, which can be helpful if you plan to refinance your loan after graduation.

SoFi is a highly-rated lender, offering a variety of student loan options. Borrowers that are already SoFi customers, or that have a cosigner who is, will see the most value from SoFi private student loans.

If your cosigner is supporting another child in college, you may be eligible to receive a 0.125% rate discount, which can be combined with the 0.25% auto debit discount and the 0.125% SoFi Member Discount.

If you don’t have a cosigner but are a SoFi member, you can still make use of the 0.125% member rate discount and the auto debit discount. You can also download the SoFi app, enroll in direct deposit and credit score monitoring, then earn points you can redeem to pay off loans.

Loan Terms: 5, 7, 10, and 15 years

Forbearance Options: SoFi offers two forbearance options:

• Unemployment Protection Program: Allows borrowers to pause payments in three-month increments for up to 12 months if laid off
• Economic Hardship Forbearance: Allows borrowers to take up to 12 months of forbearance for economic hardship, such as medical expenses

Cosigner Release Policy: Available after 24 consecutive on-time payments

Pros

• 0.25% auto debit discount
• No fees
• Cosigner release after 24 consecutive on-time payments
• Offers unemployment protection
• Additional rewards for SoFi customers

Cons

• Higher borrowing minimum than other lenders

SoFi members gain access to complimentary career coaching, which can help you with a variety of career skills like:

• Personal branding
• Navigating the job search
• Career transitions
• One-on-one support for unique career goals