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SoFi Student Loan Refinance launched in 2011 with a goal to create products that help with refinancing your current student loans, potentially lowering your rate, and adjusting your term and monthly payment. SoFi aims to help you make smart financial decisions through transparency, tons of resources and support, and modern member-first solutions all with no additional fees.
We offer pre-qualification based on a soft credit pull, so the applicant and their co-signer will know prior to uploading their documents and having a hard pull whether they are pre-qualified or not. A soft credit pull will not impact your credit.
Final approval will be determined by a review of your application, uploaded documentation, and a hard credit pull, which may impact your credit. The actual amount you receive may be less, pending your school's certification.
SoFi offers 4 types of student loan refinance repayment options:
In addition to this, children are eligible to refinance their parent’s Parent Federal PLUS loans, in conjunction with their own student loans under the Student Loan Refinance product.
Children refinancing a federal PLUS loan must complete a letter of direction, or LOD, that the parent PLUS loan(s) at $XXXXX was (were) taken out for their education.
Once a Student Loan Refinance application has been submitted, we will send you a letter of direction to complete, sign, and return via DocuSign.
SoFi will refinance qualified education loans including private and federal student loans and federal parent PLUS loans for graduates of eligible Title IV colleges and universities. Individuals with existing SoFi MBA loans are also welcome to refinance. If you are interested in partial refinancing, this is also available and must be noted on your loan application.
When applying for a Student Loan Refinance, we will need a copy of your student loan statement(s) or payoff letter from your current loan servicer.
The loan statement must include:
Please note, we are able to accept screenshots of your loan statement.
If providing a payoff letter, please ensure that both the payoff amount and payment mailing address are present. The payoff amount is the amount of money necessary to pay your loans in a certain number of days from now. This means that it includes X days worth of future interest from today's balance. Every lender is different in how they display this amount. Contact your current lender for further instructions. You are permitted to provide screenshots of said loan payoff documents, if necessary.
Once your loan application has been reviewed and signed, you will have a 3 mailing day rescission period to cancel or make any changes to your SoFi Student Loan Refinance. After the 4th mailing day, we will start the process of sending funds to your previous servicer. Please note, it can take up to 15 business days for funds to be received and applied to the correct loan(s), and can differ depending on how the servicer has requested to receive the funds.
While we wait for funding, you will receive a welcome packet within 7 business days of signing. If you haven't enrolled in autopay yet, you’ll have the option to set it up before your first payment. Your first payment date will be approximately 25-30 days after your funding date, but the specific date will be in your Welcome Packet.
While you await your welcome packet, we're also working on sending the funds to your previous servicer which can take up to 15 business days based on how the servicer requested to receive the funds.
Your first payment date is approximately 25-30 days after your funding date, but the specific date will be in your Welcome Packet.
Refinancing is a great solution for working graduates who have high-interest, unsubsidized Direct Loans, Graduate PLUS loans, and/or private loans. You can even refinance a SoFi Student Loan Refinance loan by starting a new application.
SoFi will refinance qualified education loans including private and federal student loans and federal parent PLUS loans for those who were previously enrolled in a degree-granting Title IV eligible school.
Please note, loans not used for school expenses, such as residency loans, bar study loans, and law clerkship loans, are not eligible. Check out our eligibility requirements to learn more.
Having a qualified cosigner may significantly improve your chance of getting approved and receiving a better interest rate if you have no or limited credit file, or limited ability to repay. Our Student Loan Refinance product allows for only one cosigner to be included.
In addition to this, if you are still currently enrolled in school, you are not eligible for a Student Loan Refinance.
There are five available repayment terms: 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20-year terms.
Immediate Repayment is the only option for Student Loan Refinance products, unless you have a SmartStart loan. With SmartStart, you can enjoy the benefit of making interest-only payments for the first 9 months of the loan’s life before immediate repayment begins.
SoFi will honor any grace period you have remaining on existing loans for up to 6-months from your graduation date. You may choose to begin repayment immediately by opting out of any remaining grace months.
SoFi offers Student Loan Refinance for graduate student loans as well, so long as all eligibility requirements are met.
When you consolidate federal loans through the federal loan consolidation program, you’re combining multiple loans together with a resulting interest rate that’s the weighted average of your original loans’ rates. When you refinance loans with a private lender, you’re also consolidating (i.e. combining) them, but the lender will use your financial information to give you a new and hopefully, lower interest rate.
Refinancing some or all of your student loans is supposed to work in your favor, and we want to ensure you’re making the right decision. We’ve put together a Student Debt Guide, where you can learn more about your refinance and repayment options, stay updated on the latest announcements related to student loans, and even schedule an appointment with a SoFi Student Loan Specialist.
If you are a Federal borrower, you may be eligible for flexible repayment options through the Federal Student Aid office. You can learn more about these plans and whether you qualify for them on studentaid.gov. Once you refinance Federal student loans, you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to Federal loan borrowers, including, but not limited to income-based plans or extended repayment plans.
Should you decide to refinance to a longer term in order to lower your monthly payment, you may pay more interest over the life of the loan.
Ultimately, refinancing is a personal decision that you will have to make based on your individual financial situation. This information is being provided for educational purposes only and SoFi is not providing financial, tax, or legal advice based on your individual circumstances.
SoFi does not refinance student loans originated outside of the U.S. at this time (Prodigy Finance student loans are the only exception.)
Prodigy Finance student loan statements must be in U.S. Dollars (USD). You must follow the steps outlined here in order to settle your loan and refinance with SoFi.
Please note: It is important to follow the outlined procedures as Prodigy Finance may not consider your loan as settled and will reject the funds from SoFi.
No. SoFi student loan refinances are private education loans and are not eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or other federal repayment programs, such as Income-Driven Repayment plans.
Borrowers should understand that refinancing federal student loans into a private loan means giving up certain federal benefits, including flexible repayment options that may be available through federal loan programs.
Additionally, once a federal loan is refinanced with SoFi, it cannot be converted back into a federal loan. Borrowers considering refinancing should review their options carefully before proceeding.
Check out SoFi’s blog post on refinancing/consolidation for more information.
Have more questions? Chat with us or call 855-456-7634 to speak with an agent.