May 23, 2022 — Loan Rate Schedule – Forbes Advisor

Refinanced student loan rates fell slightly last week. Despite the rise, if you want to refinance your student loans, you can still get a relatively low rate.

The average fixed interest rate on a 10-year refinance loan was 4.77% from May 16 to May 20. This is for borrowers with a credit score of 720 or higher who have prequalified in Credible.com’s student loan marketplace. The average interest rate on a five-year variable-rate loan was 3.46% among the same population, according to Credible.com.

Related: Best Student Loan Refinance Lenders

Fixed rate loans

The average fixed rate on 10-year refinance loans last week fell 0.14% to 4.77%. The previous week, the average was 4.91%.

This time last year, the average fixed rate on a 10-year refinance loan was 3.58%, 1.19% lower than the current rate. This means borrowers who refinance now have the option of receiving a significantly lower rate than they would have received this time last year.

If you were to refinance $20,000 in student loans at today’s average fixed rate, you’d pay about $210 per month and about $5,187 in total interest over 10 years, according to Forbes Advisor’s student loan calculator.

Variable rate loans

Average variable rates on five-year refinance loans fell 0.48% last week to 3.46%.

Unlike fixed rates, variable interest rates fluctuate over the life of a loan depending on market conditions and the index to which they are linked. Many refinance lenders recalculate rates monthly for borrowers with variable rate loans, but they usually limit the height of the rate, to 18%, for example.

Let’s say you refinanced an existing $20,000 loan into a five-year loan with a variable interest rate of 3.46%. You would pay around $363 on average per month. You would pay approximately $1,809 in total interest over the life of the loan. Keep in mind that since interest is variable, it can fluctuate up or down from month to month.

Related: Should You Refinance Student Loans?

The right time to refinance student loans

Most lenders require borrowers to graduate before refinancing, but not all do, so in most cases, wait to refinance until you graduate. You will also need a good or excellent credit score and a stable income in order to access the lowest interest rates.

If your credit is failing or your income is not high enough to qualify, you have several options. You can wait to refinance until you have built up credit or have sufficient income. Or, you can get a co-signer. Just make sure the co-signer knows that if you can’t repay your student loan, they will be responsible. The loan will show up on their credit report.

Finally, make sure you can save enough money to justify refinancing. At current rates, most borrowers with high credit ratings can benefit from refinancing. But those with less than excellent credit who won’t receive the lowest fixed or variable interest rates may not be able to. First, explore the rates you could prequalify for through multiple lenders, then calculate your potential savings.

What to Consider When Comparing Student Loan Refinance Rates

One of the primary goals of student loan refinancing, for many borrowers, is to reduce the amount of interest paid. And that means getting the lowest interest rate possible.

Variable loan rates may initially be lower than fixed rate loan rates. Of course, because they are variable, they are subject to increases in interest rates. You can limit the risk of interest rate increases with variable rate loans by paying off your loan as quickly as possible. Still, if you like the reliability of a fixed payment, fixed rate loans might be a better choice.

Refinancing of federal loans into private loans

When you refinance federal student loans to a private loan, you lose access to some federal loan benefits. You will no longer have access to features such as:

You may not need these programs if you have a stable income and plan to pay off your loan quickly. But make sure you won’t need these programs if you plan to refinance federal student loans.

If you need the benefits of these programs, you can refinance only your private loans or only a portion of your federal loans.