If you’re tired of paying high interest rates on your student loans, or juggling multiple loans and monthly payments, you can roll all those debts into a single student loan consolidation or refinance with one of the lowest interest rates available in the student loan industry
Laurel Road specializes in student loan refinances and in-school graduate school loans with very low rates and flexible terms. You can borrow up to the total amount of student loan indebtedness you have, and for as long as 20 years.
If you’re ready to refinance student loans, Laurel Road makes it easy with their all-online application process. You can get a rate quote based on a soft credit pull that doesn’t hurt your credit score. And if you like what you see, you can go forward with a full application.
In addition to student loans and in-school graduate school loans, Laurel Road now offers mortgages and unsecured personal loans for just about any purpose.
Quick Summary
- Some of the lowest interest rates in student loans.
- No application or origination fees.
- Direct lender.
- No maximum loan amount.
About Laurel Road
Based in Darien, Connecticut, and founded in 2013, Laurel Road offers student loan refinances and consolidations of both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, for both federal and private loans. In addition to student loans however, Laurel Road has expanded into other avenues of financing, including personal loans and mortgages.
In 2019, the company became part of KeyBank, a $138 billion bank and financial services company based in Cleveland, Ohio, and with roots going all the way back to 1825. The bank has nearly 1,200 branches in 25 states and the District of Columbia. It’s the 28th largest bank in the United States. This affiliation gives Laurel Road a strong financial foundation.
Since its founding, Laurel Road has refinanced more than $4 billion in student loans. The company works to create a seamless, personalized experience for each of its customers. And as a fintech-based organization, they conduct their business operations with a heavy emphasis on technology. The company offers some of the lowest interest rates on student loan refinances in the industry.
The company has a rating of “A-”, which is near the highest rating on a scale of A+ to F by the Better Business Bureau. They also have an excellent Trustpilot score of around 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Laurel Road Features And Benefits To Refinance Student Loans
Minimum and maximum loan amounts: The minimum loan amount is $5,000. For bachelor’s degrees or higher, the maximum loan amount is 100% of the outstanding private and federal student loans outstanding.
If you have loans connected with obtaining an Associate’s degree, the maximum loan amount available for refinance is $50,000. However, the maximum does not apply for parents who are borrowing on behalf of their children.
Availability: All 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Loans eligible for refinance: Both federal and private student loans, as well as Parent PLUS loans.
Cosigner permitted: Cosigners are permitted, but specific details are not provided. The cosigner will need to meet all eligibility requirements for primary applicants, as well as demonstrate sufficient credit history and income to strengthen the loan application.
Cosigner release: Available after 36 consecutive on-time payments.
Loan servicing: Will be handled by MOHELA, a third-party servicing agency.
Mobile app: Not offered.
Customer service: Available by phone, live chat or email, Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm, and Fridays, from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, all times Eastern. The chat line is available during the same hours, but can also be accessed on Saturdays on the same schedule as Fridays.
Forbearance due to economic hardship: If a qualifying hardship can be documented, full or partial forbearance of payments for one or more three-month time frames may be offered. The total amount of forbearance cannot exceed a maximum of 12 months. During the period of forbearance interest will continue to accrue, with any unpaid accrued interest capitalized by adding it to the remaining principal amount of the loan.
Laurel Road Referral Program
If you refer friends and family members to Laurel Road you can earn up to $400 per referral, once that person refinances their loan with the company. And since you can refer up to 10 customers per year, you can earn up to $4,000 each year.
What’s more, you don’t even need to be a customer of Laurel Road to make a referral. You simply have to create an account and get a personal referral link, which can be shared with friends and family. You’ll be paid once the referral’s loan closes. And to provide an incentive for your referrals to refinance, you can share some of the referral bonus with each.
If you’d like more information, or you’d like to refinance student loans, visit the .
How Laurel Road Works To Refinance Student Loans
To qualify for a Laurel Road student loan refinance, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident alien (with a valid I-551 form). You must also have graduated from a Title IV accredited institution with either a two- or four-year degree. However, for parents refinancing student loans for their children, refinances are possible even if the child hasn’t graduated yet.
Either the graduate or the parents of the graduate must qualify based on lending criteria, including credit history, monthly income, and monthly debt payments.
Qualifying with an Associate’s degree. You must either be currently enrolled in the final term of your degree program in a Title IV eligible school with an offer of employment in the same field as your degree, or have graduated from school with a degree in specific eligible programs. As a graduate, you must be employed for a minimum of 12 months in the same field of study as the degree earned.
Qualifying degrees for the associate’s degree refinance program include the following:
- Cardiovascular technologist
- Dental hygienist
- Diagnostic medical sonography
- EMT/paramedics
- Nuclear technician
- Nursing
- Occupational therapy assistant
- Pharmacy technician
- Physical therapy assistant
- Radiation therapy
- Radiologic/MRI technologist
- Respiratory therapy
- Surgical technologist
Laurel Road Student Loan Programs
Laurel Road offers four lending programs: student loan refinancing, graduate school loans, mortgages, and personal loans. In this section, we’re going to address primarily student loan refinancing and graduate school loans, and only briefly touch on mortgages and personal loans.
Student Loan Refinancing
Laurel Road refinances provide low interest rates, no application or origination fees, and no prepayment penalties. And if you sign up for autopay, your interest rate will be reduced by 0.25%.
You can refinance both private and federal student loans under a variety of terms. Loans are available in terms ranging from 5 to 20 years, and in both fixed-rate and valuable rate APRs.
You should be aware however that Laurel Road is a private student loan source. If you plan to include federal student loans in your refinance, you’ll be giving up valuable student loan relief programs, that are not available with private student loans. Examples include income-driven repayment plans and public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) that will be lost if you refinance out of federal student loans and into private loans.
Graduate School Loans
Laurel Road offers in-school loans if you are enrolled in a graduate program at an eligible school in select disciplines. Those disciplines include the following:
- Dentistry (DO/DDS/DMD)
- Law (JD)
- Business (MBA)
- Engineering
- Nursing (MA)
- Nursing (DNP)
- Physician’s Assistant (PA)
- Medicine (MD)
Similar to student loan refinances, graduate school loans offer low rates, flexible repayment options, and no application or origination fees or prepayment penalties. But they also offer an employment discount, of 0.25% for those who are employed after graduation.
Graduate school loans are available in both fixed and variable rates, and in terms of five, seven, 10, 15 and 20 years.
Deferment payment options: Laurel Road offers four:
- You’re not required to make payments while you are in school or in your grace period.
- Flat rate payment of $50 per month while in school and during your grace period.
- Interest-only repayment while in school and during your grace period.
- Immediate repayment – you can start making full payments immediately.
Current terms and rates on graduate school loans are as follows:
Laurel Road Rates And Fees For Student Loans And Graduate School Loans
Your interest rate will be determined by the information you provide on your initial questionnaire. It will be determined by your income, degree, the school you graduated from, the credit information from your soft credit pull, the type of program (fixed or variable rate) and the loan term (the longer the term, the higher the rate).
Your rate will be locked when you submit a full application for approval. Rate information provided in the pre-qualification phase is based on the information you supply. Your final rate will be determined by any new information obtained during full application.
Once your loan has been approved and funded, your first payment will be due 30 days later.
Variable Rate Loans
Interest rates on variable-rate currently range from a low of 1.99% APR to a high of 6.65% APR on student loan refinances. Loans are available in terms of five, seven, 10, 15, and 20 years. Variable rates are determined by the index of one-month London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR).
For graduate school loans, variable rates range from 4.45% APR to 7.71% APR. Loan terms similarly run five, seven, 10, 15, and 20 years.
Since variable-rate loans are tied to a one-month index, it’s conceivable your rate can change on a monthly basis. However, there are rate ceilings on these loans. On terms of five, seven and 10 years the lifetime maximum rate is 9%. For loans of 15- and 20-years, the lifetime maximum is 10%.
Fixed Rate Loans
For student loan refinancing, rates are available as low as 3.20% APR to 7.02% APR. Loan terms are available for five, seven, 10, 15, and 20 years. You’ll be eligible for a 0.25% discount on your rate if you sign up for automatic monthly payments. However, that discount is reflected in the interest rates posted in this article.
For graduate school loans, fixed rates range from 4.29% APR to 8.55% APR. Loan terms similarly run five, seven, 10, 15, and 20 years.
Fees
There are no prepayment penalties, origination fees, or application fees charged by any Laurel Road loans.
Late fees, defined as a payment not received within 15 days of the due date, is subject to the lesser of 5% of the amount of the payment, or $28.
Laurel Road Mortgages
Laurel Road makes mortgages available for both purchases and refinances. Mortgage financing is provided through KeyBank, which is a direct mortgage lender. As such, KeyBank will also act as the loan servicer on your mortgage, though like all mortgage loans, it may be sold to another servicer at some time in the future.
While Laurel Road offers first mortgages, they do not offer second mortgages or home equity lines of credit, nor do they offer construction or commercial real estate loans.
Laurel Road offers fixed rate mortgages with terms of 15, 20 and 30 years, as well as 5/1 and 7/1 adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Interest rates are competitive with other popular mortgage lending sources.
Normal closing costs are charged with each loan, however Laurel Road is currently offering $650 in lender credits toward those closing costs.
Laurel Road Personal Loans
You can borrow up to $45,000 for just about any purpose, including paying off high interest credit cards and other debt, to make home improvements, or for just about any other purpose. You can even use a personal loan to purchase a car, pay for a vacation, or fund a business.
Personal loans are completely unsecured, and you can complete the entire application process online. Once all your documentation has been submitted and verified, a loan decision can be made in as little as one business day.
Current interest rates range between 8.01% to 13.80% APR, with terms of three, four, and five years. All loan terms are fixed rates, and the minimum loan amount is $1,000.
How To Apply With Laurel Road
If you meet eligibility requirements, you can complete the entire application process online. You can even receive pre-approved rates in just two minutes.
You’ll start by completing a brief application with basic information about your loan, your education and your employment. You’ll also authorize a soft credit pull, which will not negatively impact your credit score. With that information, Laurel Road will provide you with conditional interest rates.
To move forward with the application process, you’ll need to upload supporting documentation to the secure dashboard, and complete your online application. After reviewing your formal application, you’ll be provided with final rates and loan terms.
You can then select the loan type in turn from the choices offered, and sign all required disclosures, as well as the promissory note.
Your existing student loans to your current lenders will be paid off, and your first payment on the refinance will be due one month after refinance funds are disbursed.
Laurel Road Pros And Cons
There are quite a few pros for Laurel Road, as well as a few cons to consider.
Pros:
- Laurel Road offers some of the lowest interest rates on student loan refinances in the industry.
- There are no application or origination fees, and no prepayment penalties.
- Laurel Road is a direct lender.
- There is no maximum loan amount restriction. You can borrow up to the amount of student loan indebtedness if you hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- You can start the process with a soft credit pull that will provide rate quotes without having a negative impact on your credit score.
- Forbearance is available for qualified, documented hardships, for terms of up to 12 months.
- Laurel Road also offers mortgages and unsecured personal loans.
- $400 referral fee paid on up to 10 referrals per year.
Cons:
- Student loan refinances only, no in-school loans available for undergraduates.
- A big part of why Laurel Road offers some of the lowest interest rates in the industry is because they work only with borrowers with the best credit and income profiles.
- Laurel Road does not offer a mobile app.
Who Will Laurel Road Work Best For To Refinance Student Loans?
If you’re looking to refinance student loans at what may be the lowest interest rates possible, you need to check out Laurel Road.
You can get a rate quote just by completing a brief online questionnaire. Laurel Road will perform a soft credit check, which won’t hurt your credit score. If you like the rate you see, you can go ahead with the full application.
Laurel Road offers both student loan refinances and in-school graduate school loans, in amounts up to the total amount of student loan indebtedness you currently have outstanding.
As a direct lender, you’ll be dealing with Laurel Road, and not a third-party lending participant. The company has a strong rating with the Better Business Bureau, and a streamlined online application process that is extremely user-friendly.
If you’re tired of dealing with the high interest rates on your current loans, or being overwhelmed with monthly payments on multiple loans, Laurel Road will give you an opportunity to consolidate those loans into a single loan at a low interest rate and one affordable monthly payment. They even offer forbearance if you’re going through a qualified hardship.
If you’d like more information, or you’d like to refinance student loans, visit the Laurel Road website
For alternatives to Laurel Road, please see our guide 10 Best Places to Refinance Student Loans.
Additional student loan refinance rates can be found through the student loan companies listed below.
Company | Loan Types | Terms | Eligible Degrees | Rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Variable & Fixed | 5 to 25 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5 to 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | Varies by lender | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5 to 20 | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | Varies by lender | Undergrad & Graduate | |
 | Variable & Fixed | 5 to 20 | Undergrad & Graduate |
Laurel Road
Pros
- Some of the lowest interest rates in student loans.
- No application or origination fees.
- Direct lender.
- No maximum loan amount.
- $400 referral fees paid.
Cons
- Refinances only, no in-school undergraduate loans.
- Available only to applicants with good or excellent credit.
- No mobile app.
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