Starting your own business is one of the most challenging—and rewarding—leaps you can take with your career. Turning your idea into a successful, thriving firm takes ingenuity, determination, and grit. It also takes a decent chunk of capital. You have to spend money to make money, right?
According to the U.S. Small Business Association, 57% of start-up businesses rely on personal savings to get their firms going. But if you’re just starting out or are planning an expansion to take your business to the next level, you might need more than you feel comfortable taking out of your savings.
Luckily, there are other sources of financing available that can help offset your costs. In fact, a recent National Small Business Association report found that available financing for small firms is on the rise, with 73% of businesses being able to access the financing they need.
Whether you need to get your business off the ground, expand your reach, or have cash on hand, it can take some creativity to find the right financing to help you thrive. Here are the basics of debt financing to help you find the right solution for your business.
What is Debt Financing?
Debt financing is the technical term for borrowing money from a lender to help run your business (as opposed to raising equity to cover your costs). Examples of debt financing include small business loans and lines of credit. Small businesses use debt financing to cover a range of expenses including start-up costs, operations, equipment, and repairs.
How Does Debt Financing Work?
Essentially, debt financing means borrowing money from a lender that you agree to pay back, typically with interest. If you’ve ever taken out a loan, you’ve financed a debt. The terms of the financing are agreed upon in advance, and you are mostly free to use the money however you wish.
Getting debt financing with favorable terms can be dependent on your credit score and financial profile. However, it is a relatively quick way to secure funds.
What’s the Difference Between Debt Financing and Equity Financing?
Equity financing refers to selling shares of a business in exchange for capital. Basically, this means finding investors who, in exchange for a portion of the business, help fund it. Equity financing can include everything from raising funds from friends and family to securing multiple rounds of financing from angel investors and venture capital firms.
A benefit of equity financing is that it’s money that is given rather than lent, meaning that you won’t have to pay interest. Another benefit is the investors themselves: Having good relationships with them can lead to important connections, mentorship, and resources to help your business grow.
Of course, a potential downside to equity financing is losing some control over the business and its operations (for example, many investors may want a seat on your board in exchange for funding . It can also take a long time—and a lot of effort—to attract and secure investors.
What’s the Difference Between Short and Long-Term Debt Financing?
Debt financing can be divided up into categories of short-term and long-term. Short-term debt financing refers to loans that are repaid over a period of a year or less. This includes everything from using a credit card, to opening a line of credit that you repay as you use it. Short-term financing can be useful for everyday expenses, small emergency repairs, and to cover cash flow.
Businesses use long-term debt financing to cover larger purchases such as expensive equipment, renovations, or real estate purchases. This can include mortgages or business loans which have multiple-year repayment plans. Often lenders require these types of loans to be secured by the assets that they are helping you purchase. For instance, a property mortgage would be secured by the property itself.
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What Debt Financing Options are Available?
If you’re looking for an immediate solution, short-term debt financing may be a good place to start. For covering smaller day-to-day expenses that you plan to pay back quickly, a credit card might be the easiest and most familiar option.
Opening a line of credit can also be a handy way to manage cash flow or finance an expansion over a period of time. A line of credit works a bit like a credit card, but with more flexibility.
Lines of credit tend to be larger than credit card limits, and they usually have more competitive interest rates. Just like a credit card, you can borrow what you need as you need it, and then make monthly repayments.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
Paying off student loans fast is all about momentum and resourcefulness. Staying up-to-date on your payments—or ideally getting ahead of them a bit—can give you the motivation you need to tackle and clear your student loan debt as quickly as possible.
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When it comes to student loan repayment, there are two great ways to build momentum: prepaying (or paying more than the monthly minimum) and reducing interest rates (through student loan refinancing).
Here are five tips to help you build momentum, so you can pay back student loans faster and make your debt a distant memory.
#1 Learning the Benefits of Prepaying
When considering how to pay off loans fast, you may want to think about saving money on student loan interest by prepaying. That means to make payments in addition to your regular monthly payment.
Generally, there is no penalty for making extra student loan payments (check with your lender or loan servicer to verify this), and it can help you spend less on interest over the life of the loan.
If you haven’t started paying off your loans yet, you can use our student loan calculator to estimate your monthly payments. Then, you can determine how much you want to pay on top of that each month, to help pay off your student loans faster.
As a bonus, it’s amazing how motivating it can be to see your outstanding balance shrink more quickly than you planned by making more than your minimum payment each month.
An important note: Some lenders may apply the additional money to next month’s payment instead of deducting it from your student loan balance if you don’t specify where you want to apply your prepayments. If your goal is to save money on interest and be done with your loans sooner, ask your loan servicer if they can apply any extra payments to your loan’s principal instead.
#2 Taking Control of Your Spending
Prepaying sounds great, but where are you going to come up with that extra cash? You can start by taking stock of where your money currently goes.
Many of us have “leaks” in our spending that we barely notice—whether we’re springing for frequent takeout dinners or have auto-payments on magazine subscriptions that we keep meaning to cancel.
Try recording your daily spending in the notes app on your smartphone or using an app like Toshl , which can help give you better insights into where your money is going. Sites like Mint offer tools that can help you create a livable budget with room for the occasional splurge.
#3 Using Unexpected Windfalls to Grow your Proverbial Garden
Instead of treating a windfall like “fun money,” use it to get ahead on your debt. Whether you come into money through inheritance, you get a pay out from a stock you’d forgotten you owned, or your boss hands out a surprise bonus, try to put a portion of your surprise cash straight toward your debt.
And don’t just think small—see if you can apply at least 50% of any financial gifts, dividends, bonuses, and raises toward paying down your loans.
#4 Creating Another Income Stream
If your main job isn’t extremely demanding, you might consider adding a side hustle to help pad your debt payments. Sites such as Upwork can connect you with freelance work. If you don’t have the time or inclination to take on another job, you can consider becoming an Airbnb host .
According to recent analysis from SmartAsset , the average host can expect to cover 81% of their rent by listing one room in a two-bedroom apartment on Airbnb.
They also found that, in many cities, it may be possible to pay the entire rent on a two-bedroom apartment with around 20 days of bookings per month. That translates to sizable savings you can put toward your student loans.
#5 Lowering your Interest Rate
If you are a working graduate paying down high-interest student loans, student loan refinancing could be a powerful way to make a dent, if you qualify. For example, securing a lower interest rate can make a big difference in what you have to pay over time.
Bear in mind that if you have federal student loans such as Direct Loans and Graduate PLUS loans, refinancing them with a private lender like SoFi means you will lose certain benefits that come with them, such as access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and income-based repayment plans.
However, some graduates may find they don’t need these benefits and that the cost-saving benefits—and faster payoffs—that can come with refinancing provide more value.
If you’re ready to make a bigger dent in your student loans, and potentially qualify for a lower interest rate, look into refinancing your loans with SoFi.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners. Notice: SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi always recommends that you consult a qualified financial advisor to discuss what is best for your unique situation.
Getting married soon? Congratulations! Just be warned—there comes a moment in many weddings when half the guests suddenly slip away to watch a big game (just follow the cheers to find your wedding party).
Football especially is a pretty good analogy for a wedding – after all, in both football and marriage, you’re either tackling things together or you’re being tackled by them. Money is a common example of this (in marriage, not football), as the growing number of couples dealing with student loan debt can attest.
Whether the loans belong to you, your spouse or all of the above, once you get married it doesn’t really matter anymore. Paying off debt is now something you can tackle together. It may be tough, but with open communication and planning you can work as a team to get that student loan linebacker off your, er, back.
So what’s the best strategy for taking down student loans without letting them clobber your marriage? Here are five tips for proactively – and collaboratively – running a play that could help lead to the big pay-off: a debt-free happily ever after.
Tip #1: Create Your Big Financial Picture
Preparing to take on a big financial goal usually requires some conversation and preparation upfront. Before making any decisions, sit down and talk about your short- and long-term financial objectives, and make sure you’re both on the same page (or as close to it as possible). This can be an overwhelming topic, so see if you can break it down into chunks.
Have you established a household budget? How do student loans (and paying them off) fit into your long-term and short-term goals? Should you start aggressively paying off debt, or might it be better for you to ramp up over time? What other factors (e.g., buying a home, changing careers, having children, etc.) could affect your decisions?
Not only can this exercise help give you more clarity to create an action plan, it can also actually be kind of fun – after all, planning a life together is part of the reason you got married in the first place. The key is to listen to each other and remember that you’re both on the same team.
Tip #2: Take Advantage of Technology
Once you’re clear on the big picture, it’s time to get into the weeds. Many people have more than one student loan, often with multiple lenders, so a good place to start can be to gather all of your loan info in one place. You can use an online student loan management tool to collect this information, compare student loan repayment options, and even analyze prepayment strategies.
After crunching the numbers, your debt payoff strategy may include putting extra money toward your loans each month, which means creating and sticking to a budget that supports that goal. Platforms like Mint and Learnvest can help you aggregate household accounts and track spending.
Note: tracking your spending so precisely may feel like ripping off a bandage at first, but over time, this kind of discipline can help you better see where your money goes and help you make conscious choices about your spending. And once you have your budget in place, these apps can be set up to alert you both when spending is getting off track.
Tip #3: Define The Who, What, When
Whether your finances are separate or combined, you’ll probably want to come to an agreement on how to collectively pay all of your financial obligations. Many couples address this based on each person’s share of the total household income.
For example, if one person makes 40% and the other makes 60%, the former might pay 40% of the shared bills and the latter might pay 60%. Others find it simpler and more cohesive to have one household checking account and pay all bills from there.
However you decide to split things up, it could make things much easier to agree upon a plan that accounts for everything, because missed payments can potentially impact your credit (and/or your spouse’s), making your future financial objectives that much tougher to achieve.
Tip #4: Look For Opportunities to Optimize
Okay, so now you’ve established a plan and a budget, and you know who’s on point for each bill. You’re on the path to getting student loan debt off your plate. Is there anything else you can do to speed up the process?
Short of winning the lottery, the most common ways to accelerate student loan payoff are prepayment (meaning, paying more than the minimum) or lowering the interest rate, the latter of which is most commonly accomplished through refinancing.
If you qualify to refinance your student loans, you have a few possibilities: you can lower your monthly payments (by choosing a longer term) or lower your interest rate (which could also lower your monthly payments) – or you could shorten the payment term, and that means you could save money on interest over the life of the loan – money that could come in handy for those other financial goals you’ve both agreed to pursue.
Tip #5: Be on the Same Team
Living with debt is stressful for any couple, but being part of a relationship has its advantages, too. There’s a reason that weight loss experts often recommend finding a “buddy” to help cheer you on and keep you honest in your diet and exercise journey – and the same applies for achieving a big goal like paying off student loan debt.
Keep it positive and keep the lines of communication open, and you may even find that the journey to being debt-free makes your marriage even stronger – so you can take the hits that come your way as easily as your favorite team does.
Check out SoFi to see how you can save money by refinancing your student loans.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. Notice: SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi always recommends that you consult a qualified financial advisor to discuss what is best for your unique situation.
Homeownership can be both rewarding and a great financial decision for your future. But as anyone who has dipped their toes into the home-buying process knows, the pressure to find and secure the “right” mortgage loan can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re a first-time home buyer.
During the early stages of the home-buying process—perhaps while you’re researching neighborhoods and schools, shopping around for properties, and nailing down the details of your budget—it would serve you well to do some research into the types of mortgages available. That way, you’ll feel prepared when the time comes to put down an offer on the perfect home.
As you’ve likely noticed, there are quite a few mortgage loan types available to borrowers. Brace yourself, because the process definitely requires you harness your best inner comparison shopper. You’ll need to consider the ins and outs of each option alongside your personal and financial needs. To help make the decision a bit easier, we’ve compared the advantages and disadvantages of each mortgage type below.
Fixed-Rate Versus Adjustable-Rate Home Loans
First, it’s helpful to know that most home loans come with a fixed or adjustable interest rate. A fixed-rate mortgage means that your interest rate will never change. In other words, your monthly mortgage payment is locked in. Fixed-rate mortgages generally come in 15 or 30-year loans.
A 30-year fixed-rate loan is the most common, though you can save a lot in interest if you opt for a 15-year loan. Monthly payments on a 15-year loan will be much higher than for a 30-year mortgage, so it’s best to commit only if you’re confident that it works in your budget—even in the event of a financial emergency.
An adjustable-rate mortgage, called an ARM, has a fixed, usually lower rate for an initial period and then increases to a more expensive, floating rate tied to the market interest rate index. ARMs are often expressed in two numbers (like 5/1 or 2/28), although those numbers don’t follow one particular formula (they could represent years, months, number of annual payments, etc.). For example, a 5/1 ARM has five years of fixed payments and one change to the interest rate in each year thereafter.
It’s easy to be drawn to the lower initial rate offered on an ARM, but it very well could end up costing more in interest than a fixed-rate loan over the lifespan of your mortgage. An ARM might work best for someone who plans to pay off their mortgage in five years or less, or is committed to refinancing prior to the ARM’s rate increase.
Rate increases in the future could be dramatic although there are limits to the annual and life-of-loan adjustments, often leaving adjustable-rate mortgage-holders with much higher monthly payments than if they had committed to a fixed-rate mortgage.
Types of Government Home Loans
The government does not actually lend money to home buyers. Instead, “government home loans” is a catchall for loans that are insured or guaranteed by various government agencies in the event the borrower defaults. This makes the loan less risky for lenders, and allows them to provide mortgages at reasonable rates.
Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Loans:
FHA loans are one of the most popular government loan types for first-time home buyers, because they have the more lenient credit score requirements and down payment requirements. With a 580 credit score, you might qualify with a 3.5% down payment. For more, check out the FHA’s lending limits in your state.
Pros: Because FHA loans are ubiquitous and have lower down payment and credit score requirements, they are one of the most accessible loans. FHA loans give potential homeowners a chance to buy without a big down payment. Additionally, FHA loans allow a non-occupant co-signer (as long as they’re a relative) to help borrowers qualify.
Cons: Historically, the requirements for FHA mortgage insurance have varied over the years. Currently, an FHA loan requires both an up-front mortgage insurance premium (which can be financed into your loan amount) and monthly mortgage insurance. The monthly mortgage insurance has to stay in place until your loan-to-value ratio reaches 78%.
USDA loans:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides home loans in rural areas to borrowers who meet certain income requirements. USDA loans offer 100% financing—so no down payment is necessary—and require lower monthly mortgage insurance (MI) payments than an FHA loan. This type of mortgage loan is offered to “rural residents who have a steady, low or moderate income, and yet are unable to obtain adequate housing through conventional financing.” To find out if you qualify, visit the USDA income and property eligibility site .
Pros: USDA loans come with low monthly MI, and they are accessible loans for low-moderate income borrowers in rural areas.
Cons: You need a credit score of at least 640 to qualify. These loans, like an FHA loan, also require an upfront fee which can be financed into your loan. If you are obtaining a loan with no down payment, this could result in a loan balance higher than your loan amount.
VA loans:
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs provides loan services to members and veterans of the U.S. military and their families. If you are eligible , you could qualify for a loan that requires no down payment or monthly mortgage insurance.
Pros: You don’t have to put any money down or deal with monthly MI payments, which could save borrowers thousands per year.
Cons: These loans are great to get people in homes, but are only available to veterans.
FHA 203k rehab loans:
FHA 203k loans are home renovation loans for “fixer upper” properties, helping homeowners finance both the purchase of a house and the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage. Current homeowners can also qualify for an FHA 203k loan to finance the rehabilitation of their existing home.
Many of the rules that make an FHA loan relatively convenient for lower-income borrowers apply here. An FHA 203k loan does not require the space to be currently livable, but it does generally have stricter credit score requirements. Many types of renovations can be covered under an FHA 203k loan: structural repairs or alterations, modernization, elimination of health and safety hazards, replacing roofs and floors, and making energy conservation improvements, to name a few.
Pros: They can be used to buy a home and fund renovations on a property that wouldn’t qualify for a regular FHA loan. And they only require a 3.5% down payment.
Cons: These loans require you to qualify for the price of the home plus the costs of any planned renovations.
Conforming Home Loans
Conforming home loans are a type of mortgage offered by private lenders. They are not insured by the government, but meet standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (government sponsored agencies). As of 2018, the conforming loan limit is $453,100 in most of the U.S. and goes up to $679,650 in certain higher-cost areas.
Conventional Home Loans:
Conventional loans are the single most popular type of mortgage used today. These are slightly more difficult to qualify for a conventional loan than a government-backed loan. However, borrowers can obtain conventional loans for a second home or investment property.
Conventional loans typically require a minimum of a 620 credit score and a down payment between 5% and 20%. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) ) if you put 20% down. If you put less than 20% down, PMI is required but you have options. PMI can be paid monthly or can be an upfront premium that can be paid by you or the lender. Monthly PMI needs to stay in place until your loan-to-value ratio reaches 78%.
Pros: Pretty much any property type you’re considering would qualify for a conventional mortgage. And you have greater flexibility with mortgage insurance if you are putting down less than 20%.
Cons: Conventional loans tend to have stricter requirements for qualification and require a higher down payment that government loans.
Conventional 97 Mortgage:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s conventional 97 loan was made to compete with FHA loans. It requires a 3% down payment or 97% loan-to-value ratio, besting the FHA’s 3.5% down payment requirement. A conventional 97 loan also requires that at least one borrower be a first-time homeowner, which they define as someone who hasn’t owned a property in the past three years. Participants in this program will need to have good credit scores and the standard 43% debt-to-income ratio.
Pros: You only need to put down 3%.
Cons: Only single-unit properties qualify, and one of the borrowers must be a “first-time buyer.”
Non-Conforming Loans
If you need a loan that exceeds the limits of both a conforming loan and a government-backed loan, you’ll need a non-conforming loan. A non-conforming loan exceeds the limits set forth by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Jumbo Loans:
Because of their size, jumbo loans tend to have even stricter requirements than regular, conforming loans. Most jumbo loans require a minimum credit score above 700 and a down payment of at least 15%.
Super Jumbo Loans:
For financing of $1 million or more, you are going to need to take out what is called a super jumbo loan. These loans require excellent credit and can provide up to $3 million in financing.
Those looking to fund an expensive property purchase will likely have little choice but to use a jumbo or super jumbo loan. If that’s you, it might require taking some time to get your credit score in good shape.
The process of finding and securing the right mortgage loan requires a little bit of investigation and a whole lot of patience. Happy hunting!
Ready to do some comparison shopping? SoFi offers mortgages with competitive rates, a fast & easy application, and no hidden fees.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
SoFi Mortgages not available in all states. Products and terms may vary from those advertised on this site. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria#eligibility-mortgage for details.
There are so many upsides to investing in your education—the personal enrichment and possibility of a bright and fruitful future being the most obvious. But, there are also some potential downsides that are hard to ignore, one of the main ones—if you’re like so many others—being the debt you may accrue.
Before you start losing sleep over your looming financial obligations, read on to gain a better understanding of how student loans work, starting with “the language of loans.”
Getting a grasp on certain student loan terms and concepts can benefit you in a few ways. For one thing, you’ll be able to better understand your student loan options, which means you can more easily compare features and fine print. That allows you to make confident decisions about your loans and, perhaps most importantly, save some money along the way.
So, what are the student loan terms every borrower should know? Here are a few of the big ones:
The Basics of Student Loans
Borrowing a loan can have long-term financial consequences so it’s important to fully understand the fees and interest rates that will affect the amount of money you owe. Here are a few of the most important terms to understand before you take out a student loan:
Principal
This is the original amount of money borrowed, plus any capitalized interest and fees. Capitalized interest is accrued interest that is added to the principal balance.
Term
The loan term is the amount of time the student loan will be in repayment. Loan terms vary by lender, and if you have a federal loan, you are usually able to select your repayment plan.
Annual Percentage Rate
Commonly referred to as APR—this is the cost of borrowing, expressed as an annual percentage. APR includes any fees associated with the loan, providing a more comprehensive view of what you are being charged. Depending on the fees associated with your loan, the APR could be a bit higher than the interest rate.
Accrued Interest
The amount of interest that has accumulated on a loan since your last payment.
The Potential Student Loan Pitfalls
Once you understand loan basics and have secured your student loans, there are a few more terms to know. Making sure you understand your repayment terms and options like deferment or forbearance will allow you to find the best strategy to pay off your student loans quickly.
Forbearance
The temporary postponement of student loan repayment during which time interest typically continues to accrue. If your student loan is in forbearance you can either pay off the interest as it accrues, or you can allow the interest to accrue and it will be capitalized at the end of your forbearance.
You will usually have to apply for forbearance with your loan holder and will sometimes be required to provide documentation proving you meet the criteria for forbearance. For a loan to be eligible for forbearance, there must be some unexpected temporary financial difficulty.
Deferment
Similar to forbearance, deferment is the temporary postponement of student loan repayment. During deferment, interest may or may not continue to accrue, depending on the type of student loan you have. In the case of federal loans , the government may pay the interest on your Perkins, Direct Subsidized and/or Subsidized Stafford loans.
Capitalized Interest
This is when accrued interest is added to your loan’s principal balance. Most student loans begin accruing interest as soon as you borrow them. While you are often not responsible for repaying your student loans while you are in school or during a grace period or forbearance, interest will still accrue during these periods. At the end of said period, the interest is then capitalized, or added to the principal of the loan.
If you make your payments on time each month, you’ll keep accrued interest in check. However, after a period of missed or reduced payments (such as forbearance), accrued interest may be capitalized, which can cost you more money in the long run.
When interest is capitalized, it increases your loan’s principal. Since interest is charged as a percent of principal, the more often interest is capitalized, the more total interest you’ll pay. This is a good reason to use forbearance only in emergency situations, and end the forbearance period as quickly as possible.
Consolidation
The act of combining two or more loans into one single loan with a single interest rate and term. The resulting interest rate is a weighted average of the original loan rates.
Consolidating can make your life simpler with one monthly bill and payment, but it’s important to understand that it doesn’t actually save you any money. In fact, if you opt for lower payments when consolidating, this is typically accomplished by lengthening your loan term, which means you’ll pay more interest over the life of the loan.
The Potential Money-Savers
Building a repayment plan and sticking to it is one of the best ways to repay your student loans quickly, while spending the least amount of money on interest. Now that you understand what could cause your interest to skyrocket, here are a few terms that could help you reduce the money you spend over the life of your loans.
Automated Clearing House (ACH)
This is an automatic loan payment that transfers directly out of your bank account to your lender or loan servicer each month. The benefits of ACH are two-fold—not only can automatic payments keep you from forgetting to pay your bill, but many lenders also offer interest rate discounts for enrolling in an ACH program.
Refinancing Your Student Loans
Refinancing is the act of taking out a new loan at a lower interest rate and using it to pay off your original loan(s). Often times, refinancing your student loans allows you to lower your interest rate on your loans.
This is one of the fastest ways to slash your student loan burden. Not only does refinancing reduce the total amount of interest you’ll spend over time, but it can also decrease your monthly payments or allow you to pay off your loan sooner.
To see how refinancing your student loans could help alleviate some financial burden, take a look at SoFi’s student loan calculator. When you refinance with SoFi, there are no origination fees, application fees or prepayment penalties.
With good earning potential and credit history, you could qualify for a lower interest rate than the one you currently have. Refinancing your loans could help you manage your student loan payments.
Prepayment
Paying off a loan early or making more than the minimum payment. Both federal and private loans allow for penalty-free prepayment, which means you can pay more than the monthly minimum or make extra payments without incurring a fee.
The more you do it, the sooner you’re done with your loans—and the less interest you’ll spend over the life of your loan.
Whether you need help paying for school or help paying off the loans you already have, SoFi offers competitive interest rates and great member benefits as well.
See what you’re pre-qualified for in just a few minutes.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. Notice: SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi always recommends that you consult a qualified financial advisor to discuss what is best for your unique situation.