Earnest – Best Student Loan Refinancing Programs

Flexible repayment options, reasonable rates, and an easy application make Earnest the choice of many student loan borrowers.

If you’re looking to refinance your student loans, or just want a private lender to cover the cost of college, Earnest is one of the top-rated options on the market.

It is quick and easy to determine whether you’re eligible for a student loan from Earnest, with many people spending only a few minutes before getting an answer. When trying to shop around for your student loans or to refinance your student loans, this fast process makes everything much easier for you.

You also have the option to customize your payments and loan terms, making Earnest ideal for those who want flexible options. And you don’t have to have perfect credit to apply, either; you can borrow between $1,000 and $500,000 with credit scores as low as 650.

For those looking to find a flexible way to borrow and pay back money, Earnest is a great choice.

Earnest Student Loan Refinancing: What You Need to Know

For many students, borrowing money for school means being stuck with a small range of expensive private loan companies. This makes finding the right student loan to meet your needs even more important than many other decisions you’ll make about your education.

Loans and Loan Refinancing

Earnest is an online lender offering private student loans and student loan refinancing, and it’s unique in that its underwriting is based on the borrower’s income potential and any financial accounts the borrower links to Earnest. The more money you have in the bank right now, or the more money you’re set to earn in the near future, the higher your repayments can be.

While this seems like a scary idea, Earnest allows borrowers to customize their repayment amounts and schedules, paying down their debt faster. In times when you expect to have more cash on hand, you can pay more toward your student loans without any penalties. And at times when you expect to have less, you can decrease your payments.

Flexible Options

Earnest is relatively new to the student loan game, first offering them in April 2019. Their loans are an alternative for those who exhausted their federal student loan options but still need money to cover college costs.

Borrowers can choose to skip one payment every 12 months, an option not found with other lenders. This, along with a nine-month grace period from graduation to starting payments, gives borrowers some flexibility in their repayments.

Earnest’s student loans are available in terms from 5 to 20 years for refinancing, or from 5 to 15 years for new private loans. Borrower eligibility begins with a credit score of 650, and income requirements vary based on whether you’re refinancing student loans or taking an initial loan.

When you apply for a loan with Earnest, there is no hard credit check that will show up on your credit report.

If you’re looking to refinance your student loans or borrow money and repay it quickly, Earnest may be the right lender for you.

How Does Earnest Work?

Earnest is an online lender that offers two lines of loan products - student loans and personal loans. Within their student loans, borrowers can opt to refinance loans they currently carry from other lenders, or borrow new money to pay for school.

The eligibility process for both of Earnest’s types of student loans are similar, with you receiving an estimate of the rates you can expect on your loan in as little as two minutes.

You then fill out a full application and go through the evaluation process, where Earnest determines your actual interest rates, terms, and borrowing capability. You then have the option to customize some of the terms of your loan, including the amount of time you’ll spend repaying your loan and your monthly payment.

Earnest uses a different underwriting approach than most student loan companies, which look at your credit score and the money you have in the bank. With Earnest, your credit score does count, but so does your immediate earning potential and the amount of money you have at your disposal.

With this approach, borrowers may have access to more money at lower interest rates than they could find from other lenders.

Earnest Features:

• Offers private student loans and student loan refinancing, as well as personal loans
• Both fixed-rate and variable-rate loans available
• Private loans are available independent or with a co-signer
• Customizable payments and loan terms
• Nine-month repayment grace period for private loans
• Option to skip one payment every 12 months
• Can see if you qualify without a hard credit check showing up on your credit report
• Easy, quick online eligibility
• Mobile app for easy tracking and payments
• Can make early payments, even same-day payments
• No fees for origination, disbursement, prepayment, or late payments
• Minimum credit score of 650
• AutoPay discount of 0.25%
• Private loans available starting at $1,000, or your state’s minimum
• Refinancing available starting at $5,000, or $10,000 for California residents

Where is Earnest Available?

For those looking to refinance, Earnest is not available in Delaware, Kentucky, or Nevada. Its variable rates aren’t available in the following states:

• Alaska
• Illinois
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• Ohio
• Tennessee
• Texas

Its private student loans are not available to borrowers in:

• Alaska
• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• Texas
• Virginia

How Much Does Earnest Cost?

The rates you will receive on Earnest’s loans depend on whether you’re refinancing or borrowing for the first time, how much you’re borrowing, and your individual qualifications, including credit score and income.

Private loans start at around 2.75% for variable-rate loans, or 4% for fixed-rate loans, with 0.25% discounts for enrolling in AutoPay. Refinancing a loan starts at around 2% for variable-rate loans and around 3% for fixed-rate loans, with discounts for enrolling in AutoPay.

What Types of Services Does Earnest Offer?

Earnest offers two types of student loan options: private student loans and student loan refinancing.

Private Student Loans

For those students who don’t have any more ability to borrow from federal loan programs - or who don’t qualify for federal loans - Earnest offers private student loans.

To qualify for one of Earnest’s private student loans, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• Be enrolled in school full-time
• Be pursuing a Bachelor’s or graduate degree
• Be enrolled at a school that is Title IV-qualified, not-for-profit, and a 4-year institution
• Be borrowing at least $1,000, or whatever your state’s minimum amount is
• Have a minimum credit score of 650
• Have at least three years of credit history
• Have an annual income of at least $35,000
• Have a history of on-time payments (car payments, personal loans, other student loans, mortgages, or credit cards)
• Have no accounts currently in collections

Earnest’s loans are available with fixed-rate interest, meaning you pay the same interest rate for the life of the loan, regardless of what general interest rates do, or variable-rate.

Students also can apply for Earnest private student loans with a co-signer. The co-signer must meet all of the above requirements, and neither the primary borrower or the co-signer has any bankruptcies on their credit reports.

Earnest’s private student loans boast a fast application and approval process, as well as no fees for origination, disbursement, prepayment, or late payments.

Flexible Terms

Unlike many other lenders, Earnest allows a nine-month grace period after you graduate - higher than six months from other lenders - allowing you more time to make money to start paying back your loan. Borrowers also can skip a payment once per year once the repayment period has started.

While you are in school, you can opt to either defer all your payments until nine months after you graduate, or to begin paying down some of your debt. Earnest offers three types of in-school payment options:

• Fixed payment of $25 per month
• Interest-only, where you pay only the accrued interest each month
• Principal and interest payments, where you begin making full payments right away

Student Loan Refinancing

If you already have federal and private student loans, you can opt to refinance them with Earnest under one single loan.

This loan will not have an origination fee, and you are likely to enjoy a lower interest rate than your current loans carry. Additionally, you’re able to customize your monthly payments so you can pay your loans off more quickly without any additional prepayment fees.

To qualify for student loan refinancing through Earnest, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be a U.S. citizen or possess a 10-year non-conditional Permanent Resident Card
• Be enrolled less than half-time, complete your degree at the end of the semester in which you refinance your loans, or have your loans already in repayment
• Be at least 18 years old
• Be listed as the primary borrower on the student loans you want to refinance
• You are not requesting any new loans for future schooling
• Your debt is from paying for a Title IV-accredited school
• Your debt is from your own education
• You are refinancing debt from one or more completed degrees, or a degree that will be completed at the end of the semester
• You are requesting to refinance at least $5,000 in student loan debt, or at least $10,000 if you live in California
• You are not requesting to refinance an existing Earnest loan unless you’ve already made at least six months of on-time payments
• Your debt is from an institution within the United States
• You have a minimum credit score of 650
• You are employed, have a written job offer for a position that starts within six months, or have consistent income
• Your student loan accounts are all in good standing
• You are current on your rent or mortgage payments
• You do not have a bankruptcy on your credit report or accounts recently in collections

Borrowers can choose to refinance with variable-rate loans or fixed-rate loans, and can increase and decrease their monthly payments as needed. You can even make extra payments, same-day if you want to, to help repay your loan faster without any additional fees or penalties.

All borrowers in good standing are allowed to skip one payment every 12 months, giving an additional level of flexibility. However, skipping a payment does extend the length of your loan by the length of your skipped payment. If you skip two payments on a five-year loan, for example, your total repayment period will be five years, two months.

Pros and Cons of Earnest

Here are some pros and cons of choosing Earnest for your student loans:

Pros:

• Offers private student loans and student loan refinancing, as well as personal loans
• Both fixed-rate and variable-rate loans available
• Private loans are available independent or with a co-signer
• Flexible payments and loan terms
• Nine-month repayment grace period for private loans
• Option to skip one payment every 12 months
• Finding out if you qualify won’t affect your credit score
• Easy, quick online eligibility
• Mobile app for easy tracking and payments
• Can make early payments, even same-day payments
• No fees for origination, disbursement, prepayment, or late payments
• AutoPay discount of 0.25%
• Private loans available starting at $1,000, or your state’s minimum
• Refinancing available starting at $5,000, or $10,000 for California residents
• Low minimum credit score requirements

Cons:

• Not available in all 50 states
• More expensive than some federal student loans
• Skipping payments extends repayment term
• Cannot refinance parents’ PLUS loans or other private loans not taken out by you

Earnest Student Loan Customer Reviews

Earnest has over 1,900 reviews on consumer review site TrustPilot, with an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.

“I checked rates at various places (Splash financial, my banks, even with my current federal loan payer) and Earnest had the lowest rate. I refinanced for 3% less than my current interest rate. In addition, Earnest was the only company that offered additional features like a deferment in case something happened where i couldn’t pay and you can also apply to refinance again after 6 months of qualifying payments (in case you need to extend your term or if rates drop). The customer service has been top notch and the website was very user friendly. All in all, my only regret is that i didn’t do this earlier.” - LC

“The refinancing was simple and pain-free. I'll be saving a large sum over the life of the loan. Thankfully these options exist for those who want to further their education. The lower rates help alleviate the burden of student loan debt time frame and monthly payments. If only we could get the rates in the 2-3% range. However Earnest was the best out there for my situation. Thank you!” - customer

“The refinancing process was so quick and easy and they gave me a good rate. I cut my interest rates in half from my previous lender! Highly recommend.” - Amanda T.

How to Get Started with Earnest

Applying for a student loan from Earnest is relatively quick and painless. You can find out if you’re eligible, and what interest rates you can expect, in as little as 2 minutes.

1. Visit www.earnest.com.
2. Select either “Refinance” or “Private Loans.” Click “Get Your Rate.”
3. Fill out the contact information, as well as information about where you go to school, your finances, and where you live.
4. You’ll receive a decision on whether you qualify and what you can expect your interest rate to be.
5. If you move forward, you will be asked to provide further personal, financial, and educational information to Earnest as part of your loan application.

How to Contact Earnest

Address: 303 2nd St. Suite 401N San Francisco, CA 94107 Customer Service: (888) 601-2801, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. PST Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetearnest/ Twitter: @MeetEarnest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earnest-llc/

Earnest Review: Summary

Finding the right lender for your student loans is a crucial decision. Making the wrong choice could saddle you with exorbitant fees, terms that you can’t live up to, and a potential mountain of debt.

With Earnest, you get everything that’s good about private student loan companies - getting the money you need to pay for school - without the major drawbacks.

Their flexible repayment options, as well as reasonable interest rates, make them a top choice for many looking to borrow money for school or refinance existing student loans. The ability to skip a payment every year, as well as getting nine months from your graduation date before you’re required to begin paying on your student loans, provides a little bit of breathing room for those times when borrowers may be struggling.

Although Earnest isn’t available in all 50 states, it’s a fantastic option for those eligible borrowers looking to repay their loans fast in an effort to save some money down the line.