SoFi Blog

Got student loans? We’ve got you covered with our Student Loan Smarts blog series. Our expert tips and hacks will help you save money, pay off loans sooner, and stress less about student loan debt. Read the other posts in the series to get all the info you need to make intelligent decisions about your student loans.

Student loan debt can cause you to delay important life decisions, such as those around marriage and family, or postpone big savings goals like buying a house. But by refinancing, you won’t have to put your dreams on hold. All you need is a little guidance and a plan.

It’s been another big year for student loans. As the $1.2 trillion in outstanding education debt continues to grow, the Class of 2014 became the most indebted ever, with recent college grads owing $33,000 on average and the number for graduate/professional degree borrowers often closer to the six-figure range.

The term “sequester” may seem so 2013, but the truth is that these automatic spending cuts are still in play – and the next round is scheduled for October 1^st.  Whether you’re currently financing an MBA or other grad school program with Direct PLUS loans or you’re considering using them in the future, these new sequester cuts may have an impact on the amount of money you’ll end up spending on your loans.

So what exactly do you need to know about student loans and the sequester?  Here’s the scoop:

When the government lowered federal loan rates last year, we stopped lending to college students and refocused our business on refinancing graduates.  The combination of lower loan rates and guaranteed government protections made it hard for us to justify choosing a SoFi loan while in school.  Our advice was to graduate, get a job and then consider SoFi.  Over 8,500 of you have done that, refinancing over $700 million in loans with us, saving money and gaining benefits like our unemployment protection and entrepreneur program.

The House approved the Senate’s student loan bill yesterday.  This bill included some significant changes to how interest rates are set on loans made after July 1, 2013.  Here is how it impacts you.