Laurel Road Review: Top Student Loan Refinancing Provider

For borrowers working in healthcare professions, such as doctors and dentists, a special program allows refinancing as soon as you match to a fellowship or residency.

One of the biggest names in the student loan refinancing industry, Laurel Road offers lower rates than many other companies, as well as more flexible terms. They’ve been in the business for a long time, previously refinancing student loans as Darian Rowayton Bank.

And if you’re working toward becoming a doctor or dentist, Laurel Road has a special program that allows you to refinance your loans as soon as you match to a fellowship or residency. This saves you money at a time when you may really need some extra cash.

They offer both fixed and variable rate student loan refinancing, as well as repayment terms of 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years, making your student loan refinancing more customizable to meet your individual needs. Laurel Road doesn’t charge any origination, application, or prepayment fees, and they offer a discount for enrolling in autopay.

One negative to choosing Laurel Road over other refinancing options is that, if you choose to return to school for an additional degree or certificate, Laurel Road does not offer deferment on your refinanced student loans.

Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing: What You Need to Know

If your parents took out a Parent PLUS loan to finance your education, you don’t have a lot of options if you want to refinance that loan in your name so you take over the financial burden once you’ve got a stable job.

Refinance Parent PLUS Loans

With Laurel Road, you can easily refinance Parent PLUS loans just as you would other individual loans from both federal and private lenders, rolling all your loans into one monthly payment. This not only releases your parents’ financial burden for your education, but it also allows you to capture a lower rate on these loans, saving you money.

Refinancing is available for loans from $5,000 to $300,000. Anyone wanting to refinance more than $300,000 in student loans must take out two separate loans.

Pay Off Medical School Loans

Laurel Road offers a unique program for medical residency students, helping them begin saving money on their loans before they can begin full employment. If you are studying to be a doctor or dentist, or another medical profession that requires a residency or fellowship, Laurel Road allows you to refinance the loans for your education as soon as you have a match to your fellowship or residency location. During your residency, pay just $100 per month toward your student loans.

If that $100 doesn’t cover the accruing interest on your student loans, any extra interest will be tacked onto your loans once the repayment period begins.

Laurel Road offers lower interest rates to refinance student loans than other companies in the industry, and their selective process for working with individual borrowers allows them to charge these lower rates.

Loan Forgiveness Options

Should you run into economic hardship, such as losing a job or coming down with a serious illness, Laurel Road will allow forbearance on their refinanced students loan for up to three months at a time for a total of 12 months of deferment over the life of the loan.

Additionally, Laurel Road does offer student loan forgiveness in the event that the primary borrower dies, and they may forgive some or all of the remaining balance if the borrower demonstrates significant permanent, unexpected reduction of income due to a permanent disability. This gives you the peace of mind knowing, if the worst happens, you and your family may not be saddled with student loan payments that can’t be made.

How Does Laurel Road Work?

Laurel Road is a private loan company, formerly known as Darian Rowayton Bank, that allows you to refinance your student loans from both federal and private lenders into one loan. If your parents took out Parent PLUS loans for your education, you also can refinance those loans in your name, removing your parents’ financial responsibility for them.

Refinancing is available for loans from $5,000 to $300,000 in one loan. If you have more than $300,000 in student loans you want to refinance, you will need to take out a second loan for the extra.

Flexible Terms

You can refinance your loans for repayment in 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 year terms, with either fixed or variable interest rates. Laurel Road’s interest rates are lower than many of the other student loan refinancing companies, making them an attractive choice for borrowers with stable income looking to save money.

Laurel Road also offers a program tailored for those in the medical professions who must complete a fellowship or residency.

Refinance Your Student Loans

Once you’ve matched with a fellowship or residency site, you can refinance your student loans and only pay $100 per month throughout the course of your residency or fellowship. If that amount covers the accrued interest on your loans, then the remainder gets applied to your principal.

If the $100 per month doesn’t cover interest, any leftover accrued interest is added to your loan once you begin the repayment period at the end of your residency.

You also can earn up to $400 for referring your friends to Laurel Road for their student loan refinancing, a nice extra incentive for those who are happy with the service they receive.

Where Is Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing Available?

Laurel Road offers student loan refinancing in all 50 states.

How Much Does Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing Cost?

Laurel Road does not charge application or origination fees, so it doesn’t cost you anything beyond interest to borrow money from them. They do charge $28 for late payments made.

Interest rates with Laurel Road are competitive with other lenders in the market, even lower in some cases.

For refinancing traditional student loans, fixed-rate interest ranges from 3.2% to 7.02%, and variable-rate interest ranges from 2.29% to 6.65%, depending on individual qualifications and loan term.

Those wishing to participate in the program geared toward medical students can expect between 3.5% and 7.44% interest for fixed-rate loans, and between 2.69% and 7.1% for variable-rate loans.

What Options Does Laurel Road Offer for Student Loan Refinancing?

Laurel Road offers two basic types of student loan refinancing: fixed-rate and variable-rate loans. They also have a program specifically geared toward medical students, and allow parents to refinance Parent PLUS loans.

Fixed-Rate Student Loan Refinancing

Choosing fixed-rate student loan refinancing means that the interest rate you sign for on the day you refinance your loans is the interest rate you’ll pay until your loan term ends.

Many borrowers prefer this type of borrowing because it provides predictable monthly payments, making them easier to budget for long-term. Additionally, locking in an interest rate now, when rates are low, means you don’t risk overall rates rising, costing you money.

Overall interest rates on fixed-rate loans tend to be higher than their variable-rate counterparts.

Variable-Rate Student Loan Refinancing

Variable-rate loans allow you to take advantage of below-market introductory rates early in your loan term, meaning you can either pay your loans off faster or save money for other expenses.

The initial rate you will receive on a variable-rate student loan refinance is below the market interest rate for a similar loan, but that rate does rise over time.

Choosing a variable-rate loan can be risky, though, in the event that interest rates increase over the course of your loan repayment terms.

Medical Student Refinancing Program

One unique option available from Laurel Road is a refinancing program geared specifically toward medical students.

Those who are studying to become doctors, dentists, or other medical professionals that require a fellowship or residency can apply to refinance their loans as soon as they are matched with a residency site. This allows them to save money on their student loans before they’re even officially employed, paying only $100 per month.

They then begin standard repayment once the fellowship is over.

If the $100 per month payment isn’t enough to cover the interest accruing on the loan, then the leftover interest is added up and added to the loan once the repayment period begins.

Parent PLUS Refinancing

Many parents take out Parent PLUS federal loans to help their children get through college. Once college is over, some of these children want to take over repayment of that loan but have a difficult time finding somewhere they can refinance to take their parents’ names off the loan.

With Laurel Road, refinancing a Parent PLUS loan is quick and easy, allowing either the child to refinance and remove the parents from the loan, or allowing the parents to refinance and take advantage of savings on interest.

Laurel Road Features:

• Formerly known as Darian Rowayton Bank
• No application, origination, or prepayment fees
• Interest rates competitive with or lower than other lenders in the industry
• Ability to refinance and release a co-signer
• Can refinance Parent PLUS loans to either remove parents’ responsibility or refinance for lower payments
• Medical resident program allows earlier refinancing and low monthly payments while in residency
• 12 months of forbearance for financial hardships
• Will forgive remaining balance of loans if the primary borrower dies
• Ability to forgive some or all of the remaining balance in the event the primary borrower becomes permanently and unexpectedly disabled, leading to a significant decrease in income
• See available rates in five minutes
• Refinance from $5,000 to $300,000
• Refinancing of over $300,000 available if split into multiple loans
• No deferment option for those who wish to return to school
• Also offers mortgages and personal loans
• Extensive library of financial literacy articles
• Fixed- and variable-rate options

Pros and Cons of Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing

Here are some of the pros and cons of choosing Laurel Road for student loan refinancing:

Pros:

• Refinance from $5,000 to $300,000
• Refinancing of over $300,000 available if split into multiple loans
• Extensive library of financial literacy articles
• Fixed- and variable-rate options
• No application, origination, or prepayment fees
• Interest rates competitive with or lower than other lenders in the industry
• Ability to refinance and release a co-signer
• Can refinance Parent PLUS loans to either remove parents’ responsibility or refinance for lower payments
• Medical resident program allows earlier refinancing and low monthly payments while in residency
• Referral program offers up to $400 for referring your friends
• 12 months of forbearance for financial hardships
• Will forgive remaining balance of loans if the primary borrower dies
• Ability to forgive some or all of the remaining balance in the event the primary borrower becomes permanently and unexpectedly disabled, leading to a significant decrease in income
• See available rates in five minutes
• Available in all 50 states

Cons:

• No option to defer payments if you decide to return to school
• Medical student program isn’t as generous as some other lenders
• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a 10-year non-conditional green card
• Must have graduated from a Title IV school

Discounts on Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing

Laurel Road offers a 0.25% discount for the life of the loan if you enroll in autopay.

Laurel Road Reviews from Happy Students

Laurel Road has nearly 300 customer reviews on TrustPilot, a consumer review site. The reviews are largely positive, giving Laurel Road a star rating of 4.5 out of 5.

“I wish I refinanced my student loans earlier as the 7% federal interest rate was a huge burden. Now with Laurel Road I am paying a lot more to the principal due to a significantly lower interest rate. Also, great customer service, easy application, and huge money saver. Thank you Laurel Road.” - Daniel G.

“The refinancing student loans with Laurel Road process was one of the best I have ever experienced....from providing documents to asking questions and approval....everything was done quickly and had approval to documents within a couple of days...Thank you for making a process that could have been burdensome a very pleasant one…” - Kim L.

How to Apply for Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing

1. Visit www.laurelroad.com.
2. Click “Check your rate.”
3. Enter basic information about yourself, including your name and phone number, and create an account with Laurel Road.
4. You will be asked to enter information about your education and your loans. Laurel Road will give you your available interest rates.
5. If you opt to continue the application process, you will enter more information about yourself, your finances, and the loans you wish to refinance.

How to Contact Laurel Road

Address: 855 Main St. Bridgeport, CT 06601 Customer Service: (855) 245-0989 Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. EST Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. EST Website: www.laurelroad.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurelroadlending **Instagram: **@laurel_road Twitter: @LaurelRoad LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laurel-road/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-4D1jneHKpxzhKlre6ae4Q

Does Laurel Road Offer Other Types of Loans?

Yes. Laurel Road offers both mortgages and personal loans in addition to student loan refinancing.

Laurel Road Review – Summary

Laurel Road has been servicing student loan refinances for several years, helping borrowers refinance more than $4 billion in federal and private student loans.

Overall, Laurel Road’s refinancing offerings are on par with or slightly above the rest of the industry, with lower interest rates than many other companies. Where they really stand out, however, is with their program aimed at medical students.

This program allows those wanting to become doctors and medical professionals to make lower payments toward their student loans while completing their residency, helping them avoid ever-accruing interest during that time.

Additionally, allowing borrowers to refinance Parent PLUS loans either fully in the child’s name or so the parents can take advantage of a lower interest rate is a helpful unique feature.

If you’re looking for low interest rates and some unique refinancing programs, Laurel Road may be the lender for you.