If you’re an individual who has completed their education and wants to consolidate existing student loans, Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance may be a suitable option for you.
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Getting higher education is one of the most important aspects of an individual’s life to become independent and literate. Also, it will open the gateway to hundreds of employment opportunities and make you qualify to earn money. If your motive is to make money by doing a job then you must grab the degree or educational qualification in the area you want to work.
For example, a doctoral degree allows you to become a doctor and be employed in any nearby medical facility. Similarly, other professions also demand the educational qualification of the candidate. It depicts how important education is. However, a lot of students are unable to get a higher education as they belong to a family with a lower financial background. They have no financial resources to cover their educational expenses.
As an alternative, they can borrow the funds from any money lender as an educational loan. One of the most popular names in terms of education loans is the Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance.
What is Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance?
Laurel Road is the loan lender which offers education loans to students who are in need. Whether you are pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or professional degrees, Laurel Road offers education loans with the best benefits and other perks. Students who are pursuing the Healthcare degrees are preferred for the student loans. One of the best parts of Laurel Road is that it offers student loans with a flashy twist.
Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance provides unique ways to repay your loan faster or implement best practices for lowering the interest rate. Specifically, students pursuing medical degrees and seeking education loans from Laurel Road can benefit from special pricing and perks for the repayment terms of their loans.
Considering refinancing your student loans with Laurel Road? Our guide provides a comprehensive overview of their refinancing program. Additionally, explore alternative refinancing solutions by diving into our guide on ‘Citizens Bank Student Loan Refinance’.
Overview of the Company
The Laurel Road started its first shop in 2013 and began to offer educational loans and refinance to the students. But in 2019 the company was acquired by KeyBank. All the bank did was integrate digital products into the lending business.
These digital products include checking and savings accounts, personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards. Currently, Laurel Road student loan refinance has emerged as one of the best loan provider companies with an attractive profile and stunning advertisements.
In the advertisements, they claim to offer educational loans with better interest rates, benefits, and perks than other lenders in the industry. When it comes to the popularity and rating of the company,
Laurel Road has a moderate rating and has no good or bad reputation in the field of education loans. The student loan offered by the company comes with refinancing terms of around 5 to 20 years. Usually, the company offers special refinancing facilities for medical students, medical fellows, and residents.
The student loan or educational loan reliance variable APR is around 5.74%–11.14% whereas the fixed APR is around 5.99%–11.24%. On the other hand Student loan refinance for medical residents and fellows is also given by Laurel Road with a variable APR of 4.47% – 10.35% and a fixed APR of 4.72% – 10.45%.
Pros and Cons of the Company
As usual, everything has two aspects, one depicts the positive side and the other depicts the negative side. The same with Laurel Road it also has some advantages and disadvantages as well. Below are some of its advantages:
Abundant Perks and Rewards Programs:
Laurel Road is known for offering better benefits and perks than other student loan lenders in the market. The students who took the education loan from the company can lower the interest rate simply by opening their Laurel Road checking account and meeting the direct deposit requirements.
Another stunning part of the company is its collaboration with major companies like Brooklinen and TaskRabbit. This opens the referral program and cashback reward points for the students.
Special Benefits for Healthcare Professionals:
The faculty of refinancing is open for all students whether you are pursuing your undergraduate degree or any other graduate program in any field. But for the students who are pursuing their healthcare degrees can get access to additional benefits and perks.
These include doctor, physician assistant, optometrist, or dentist degrees. You will get a few more points off than the ordinary loan refinancing. Even the benefit of a $100/month payment is also given to the resident or a fellow from Laurel Road.
Low Cap on Interest Rates:
Most of the loan lenders and providers display lower interest rates in their advertisements to attract the eyes of maximum students. Only the stellar refinancing candidate will get these benefits from other lenders and the ordinary student ends up paying more than the repayment.
Whereas Laurel Road offers the maximum repayment interest rate lower than any other lending company. You may lose a lot of money due to your low finance score in the case of other lenders.
Children Can Take Over Parent Student Loans:
The loan can be taken in two ways i.e. either completely on the behalf of the student or on the behalf of both parents and students. If you have taken an education loan for your kid as a parent student loan then the children can take over the repayment schedule after they start making money. The parents are completely free from loan repayment.
There are some cons of the Laurel Road lending compost as well. Some of these cons are mentioned below, let’s have a look:
Refinancing Opportunities Limited for Individuals with Associate Degrees:
The education loan refinancing and leasing options are available for students who are pursuing their graduation or undergraduate degrees in any field. Whereas there is less number of refinancing options available for the students who are enrolled in the associate’s program. Also refinance options are available for associate degrees, which come with strict needs and eligibility requirements. A student needs to meet them all to get the loan.
Not all associate’s degrees are eligible for the loan; only a few are. Also, there is another major requirement. The student who is seeking a loan must be part of the associate program for at least one year to be eligible for the loan.
Requires a degree in most cases:
The biggest disadvantage of the Laurel Road student loan refinance is that the students need to complete the degree to be eligible for the loan in most cases. The only exception in this situation is the student is in the last year of their course.
Also, the students who have signed up for their employment after the course will get the reliance easily. Moreover, in the case of parent student loans, it is easy for the parents to get the loan to cover the educational expenses of their child.
No Longer Offering Graduate Student Loans:
One of the biggest shortcomings of the Laurel Road student loan refinance is that the education loan is not offered to graduate students from the academic year 2022–2023. Only the students who are enrolled in the graduation courses since 2019 are eligible for the student loan.
Loans offered by Laurel Road
There are certain Laurel Road student loan refinance programs for the students. But recently all the reliance programs for the graduation students appearing in the academic year 2022-2023 are closed due to some reasons.
However, the students who have been admitted to the graduation courses from 2019 are eligible for the loans. You need to stay updated about their new launches regarding graduation loans. There are several specifications given to the student refinancing programs. These are:
- Loan amount:
The students can borrow the loans to cover the educational expenses ranging from $5,000 minimum and $50,000 maximum for the associate’s degrees. Loans are closed for graduate degrees. You may need the new launches for graduation loans.
- Variable APR:
The students who are pursuing courses in the medical or healthcare sector are likely to get loans with a variable APR of 5.74. – 11.14% or 4.47% – 10.35%.
- Fixed APR:
The fixed APR for healthcare students is around 5.99% – 11.24%, or 4.72% – 10.45%. The medical courses students can get a fixed APR based on their financial score.
- Loan Terms:
The most important aspect of any loan is the time frame for which the loan is granted to the student. Laurel Road offers an education loan to the students for the time of 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years.
Eligibility Criteria for Loan
There are eligibility criteria that need to be accomplished by the students to get the education loan from Laurel Road. These eligibility requirements are mentioned below, let’s have a look:
- The minimum credit score is required by the students while applying for the loan. The credit score is not disclosed to the public and demands a good score for granting funds.
- The student needs to have a degree to get financial aid as a student loan to cover the educational expenses. There is an exception where the last semester students are eligible to get the loan if they have signed an employment agreement with any company.
- The students who are applying for the student loan need to be the legal resident of the USA including all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Loan Fees
One of the best parts of the Laurel Road student loan refinance resonance is that there are no additional fees or hidden charges applied to the students if they have paid their loan repayments on time without any delay.
But in case the student is unable to pay the repayment on time or has not submitted the extended request then the fee of 5% of your payment amount or $28 will be charged. Also, if the repayment is made from the bank and the bank denies the request due to insufficient balance then the student will be charged with the fee of $20.
Discounts
There are several discount offers given by Laurel Road which alone minimize the interest rate. For example, if the repayment schedule is set for autopsy from a bank account you will get a discount of 0.25%.
Also, for signing up for a new checking account while your loan refinancing you will get an additional 0.25% off for the first three months of the repayment. You also get 0.55% off if you have %7500 as a direct deposit to your bank.
FAQs
1. Is it possible to refinance student loans?
Yes, student loans can be refinanced but there is a need to refinance your loan from any private lender like Laurel Road. But after refinancing you are unable to get the benefits from the federal loan anymore. However, you will get a discount in interest after loan refinancing from any private lender.
2. Does refinancing a student loan incur any penalties?
No, there is no such penalty, origination, application, or prepayment fee on refinancing the education loan from any private lender. However, make sure to read your loan agreement to be aware of any hidden penalties or fees for refinancing.
3. Is it worth refinancing government student loans?
Refinancing the federal loan is the biggest mistake you can make. The benefits and perks offered by the government are better than any private lender. Also, sometimes the government introduces relaxation schemes which forgives the loan for students. It will be better to stay on the federal loans and pay them as per the repayment schedule.
4. Does refinancing hurt your credit?
Refinancing can be fatal for your credit or finance score in the short term but it will be beneficial for your long-term credit score building. Your credit score can dip a few points but it will be back to the usual in a few months.
Conclusion
Laurel Road is a pioneer in providing lifesaving education loans to needy students seeking higher studies. The Laurel Road Student Loan Refinance program offers both student and parent student loans with low-interest rates and a maximum repayment period of 20 years, catering to individuals with lower financial backgrounds.
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