SoFi Blog

What comes to mind when you think of student loans?  If you’re one of the 37 million people that are currently repaying student debt, your first thought is probably of the painful deduction that comes out of your bank account each month.  Or maybe you picture someone you know who’s currently struggling with his or her loans.  Or you recall an article you saw about the “student loan crisis.”

This holiday season, the ultimate gift on many recent grads’ wish lists is lower student loan debt.  Since more students are graduating with more debt than ever before, it’s not surprising that many are asking for cold hard cash versus the more tangible gifts of years past.

When was the last time you took a hard look at your student loans?

If you’re like many borrowers, you probably try hard not to think about them.  That monthly deduction from your bank account might be an aggravating reminder, but one that you’ve grudgingly come to accept over time.  After all, what’s the point in dwelling on your loans if there’s nothing you can do to change them?

Last Wednesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report summarizing complaints from 3,800 student loan borrowers. SoFi was not named in these borrower complaints, but as a private lender focused on refinancing existing student loans, we hear a lot about the challenges our customers have faced with their previous lenders.

There are a lot of factors to take into account when choosing a student loan – differing interest rates, private vs. public, the pros and cons of working with various lenders.  Among those choices, we at SoFi have found one of the things that trips up borrowers the most is the choice between fixed rate and variable rate (also known as floating rate) loans.