Terms for Parent Student Loans
Variable APR	6.32%–14.03%
Fixed APR	6.50%–14.83%
Loan amounts	$1,000 as much as the price of attendance
Loan terms	5, 7, 10, 15 years

Loan Eligibility and Approval

SoFi funds student loans in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. To qualify for a SoFi student loan, you’ll need to satisfy the next eligibility requirements: 

• Be a US citizen, everlasting resident, or non-permanent resident alien 
• Be the age of majority in your state (or apply with a co-signer who’s) 
• Be enrolled no less than half-time in a degree-granting program at an eligible institution; associate’s degree programs aren’t eligible
• Be employed or have sufficient income (or apply with a co-signer)
• Meet SoFi’s underwriting requirements, which consider your financial history, credit rating, and debt-to-income ratio 

Are Co-Signers Required?

Co-signers aren’t required to borrow a student loan from SoFi, but adding one to your application could assist you qualify or recover rates. Most undergraduate borrowers apply for a personal student loan with a co-signer, since they often don’t have sufficient credit history or income to qualify on their very own. As mentioned, SoFi helps you to apply for a co-signer release on an in-school student loan after 24 months of on-time payments. 

Is Loan Pre-Qualification Available?

SoFi makes it easy to pre-qualify for a student loan on its website. After entering a number of personal details, you’ll be able to check your rates on a student loan with no obligation or impact in your credit rating. You possibly can start the method by clicking “View Your Rate” on SoFi’s website. Based on SoFi, pre-qualifying for a student loan only takes three minutes. 

Length of Time for Loan Approval and Disbursement

You possibly can apply for a SoFi student loan online inside minutes and should receive an approval decision instantly. Once your loan has been approved, SoFi will confirm your information along with your school. This process may take a number of days or perhaps weeks, depending on how quickly your school responds. 

After your school has confirmed your status and authorized your cost of attendance, SoFi will send the funds to your financial aid office. Your school applies the funds to your tuition bill and sends any leftover amount to you. Generally speaking, the whole loan application process takes between 4 and 6 weeks. 

Loan Fees and Repayment Options

Loan Fees

SoFi doesn’t charge any fees on its student loans. You won’t need to worry about origination, disbursement, application, or late fees if you happen to borrow from SoFi.

Loan Discounts

SoFi provides several opportunities for rate of interest discounts. These include: 

• Autopay: 0.25% rate cut for organising automatic payments in your student loans
• Family: 0.125% rate discount if you happen to’re a parent or sponsor who has already co-signed on a SoFi student loan and are co-signing on one other one
• Continuing scholar: 0.125% rate discount if you happen to’ve already borrowed a student loan from SoFi and are taking out one other one
• Member: 0.125% rate discount if you happen to or your co-signer are already SoFi members

Repayment Options

If you borrow from SoFi, you’ll be able to select terms of 5, 7, 10, or 15 years. Students have the next repayment options: 

• Deferred: Postpone payments when you’re in class and for six months after
• Interest-only: Repay the interest that accrues in your loans every month
• Partial (fixed) payments: Make fixed payments of $25 monthly when you’re in class
• Immediate repayment: Start paying back your full principal and interest payments instantly

Borrowers of parent loans can’t defer payments completely while the kid is in class. As a substitute, they will choose from interest-only payments and immediate repayment of their parent loan. 

Rewards

SoFi offers a bonus of as much as $500 for referring family and friends to any of its student loans, as much as $1,000 fo referring family and friends to student loan refinancing services and $100 for referring family and friends to the SoFi bank card. 

Member Advantages 

SoFi members are eligible for plenty of advantages, including profession coaching, community events, personalized advice from a financial planner, estate planning, and expedited entry to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. 

Loan Forbearance and Discharge Options

In case you run into financial hardship, contact SoFi’s loan servicing partner MOHELA about your options for reducing payments. It’s possible you’ll also qualify to pause payments completely through deferment or forbearance for other reasons, comparable to going back to highschool, serving on lively duty, or experiencing a natural disaster.

Is Student Loan Refinancing Available?

Together with in-school loans, SoFi also provides student loan refinancing to qualifying borrowers. Fixed rates of interest range from 4.99% to 9.99% APR and variable rates range from 5.99% to 9.99% APR. If you refinance with SoFi, you’ll be able to select repayment terms of 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years. The minimum student loan amount you’ll be able to refinance is $5,000. 

The necessities to refinance student loans are just like those to borrow in-school loans, comparable to meeting residency and age requirements. You (or your co-signer) have to be employed, have sufficient income, or have a suggestion for a job that can start inside 90 days. It’s essential to even have borrowed the loans for an eligible, accredited Title IV school and graduated along with your associate’s degree or higher. 

Together with general student loan refinancing, SoFi also offers specific refinancing options for medical residents, parent PLUS borrowers, medical professionals, and law and MBA graduates. In case you refinance as a medical resident, you’ve the choice to make $100 monthly payments when you’re in residency.

Customer Service

If you would like to reach SoFi’s customer support, you’ll be able to contact them directly on SoFi’s website via live chat after you’ve created an account. Or you’ll be able to call the corporate’s student loan support team at (855) 456-SOFI (7634). Business hours for phone support are Monday to Thursday, 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific Time, and Friday to Sunday, 5 a.m. to five p.m. PT.

In case you borrow from SoFi, you’ll pay your loan back through its third-party loan servicing partner, MOHELA. You possibly can contact MOHELA by sending a secure message through your online account or calling (877) 292-7470.

Applying for a SoFi Student Loan 

Before applying for a personal student loan through SoFi or one other lender, be sure to maximise your eligibility for federal student aid. You possibly can access federal student loans, grants, and other aid by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In case you still have a spot in funding, a personal student loan could provide the funds you wish. 

You possibly can apply for a SoFi student loan on SoFi’s website in a matter of minutes. Your first step is checking your rate with a soft credit check, which won’t impact your credit or appear as a negative mark in your credit reports. In case you’d wish to move forward with a loan offer, you’ll provide more details and consent to a tough credit inquiry, which may ding your rating by a number of points. 

The data you’ll need to supply includes:

• Your name, date of birth, and Social Security number 
• Proof of income for you and/or your co-signer 
• ID
• School and value of attendance 
• Loan amount 
• Financial aid you’re thinking that you’ll receive 

It’s possible you’ll have to upload some documents to confirm your information. In case you’re borrowing a student loan for faculty or graduate school, SoFi will reach out to your school to certify its cost of attendance and ensure your enrollment. As mentioned, the method may take 4 to 6 weeks, so be sure to use no less than a month and a half before your tuition bill is due. 

In case you’re refinancing student loans with SoFi, the method may only take one to 2 weeks. SoFi pays off your prior loans and get you up and running along with your recent one. Be certain to maintain paying your old loans until you’re 100% sure the accounts have been closed. After refinancing with SoFi, expect your first payment to be due in 30 to 45 days.

Alternative Decisions

	SoFi	Sallie Mae	ISL Education Lending
Loan types offered	Undergraduate; graduate; skilled; health professions; parent	Undergraduate; graduate; medical; technical; bootcamp	Undergraduate; graduate; parent
Undergraduate fixed APR	4.49%–14.70%	4.50%–15.49%	3.95%–8.01%
Undergraduate variable APR	5.49%–13.97%	6.12%–16.45%	6.10%–10.64%
Origination/administrative fee	None	None	Not disclosed
Repayment options	Deferment; fixed; interest-only; full payment	Deferment; fixed; interest-only; full payment	Deferment; interest-only; full payment
Refinancing available	Yes	No	Yes

Final Verdict

Whether you’re seeking to borrow a student loan for the primary time or refinance existing student loan debt, it’s value checking your rates with SoFi. This online lender makes it easy to pre-qualify online, meaning you’ll be able to check your rates with no impact in your credit rating. 

Not only does SoFi offer competitive rates, a wide range of repayment terms, and no fees, but it surely also provides unique advantages to its members, comparable to coaching with certified profession coaches and complimentary financial planning. 

Plus, SoFi designs loans for specific degrees and situations, including law and MBA loans, parent loans, and medical resident refinancing. If you’ve a credit rating of 650 or higher (or can apply with a co-signer who does), SoFi might be a great alternative.

Methodology

Investopedia is devoted to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of student loan lenders. We collected hundreds of information points across 30 lenders—including loan types, rates of interest, fees, loan amounts, and repayment terms—to be certain that we help readers make the best borrowing decision for his or her education needs.