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SoFi Private Student Loans Review
ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)
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SoFi is the second largest marketplace lender around today, providing student loans, student loan refinancing, mortgages, and personal loans.
With over $14 billion in loans issued to date, SoFi offers some of the most attractive rates in the industry. SoFI features undergraduate loans, graduate loans, and parent loans.
How is SoFi rated?
Breakdown
4.5/5
Loan Details
4.5/5
Eligibility Criteria
4.5/5
Customer Experience
4.5/5
Additional Benefits
Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)
SoFi is a great choice for a student loan because the company brings the same ease of use and quick approval to this sector as it does to personal loans, home loans, and student loan refinance. Prospective borrowers can get a decision in minutes, and cosigners are easily added. SoFi also offers four choices to repay the loan, from starting full repayment right away, to waiting six months after you finish school. Out of everything, though, what SoFi has going for it the most is its complete lack of fees. This includes origination fees, insufficient funds fees, maintenance fees, and even late fees.
SoFi Loan Specifics
Loan Details - 4.5 / 5
As of now, SoFi features undergraduate, graduate and parent loans. The minimum loan amount is $1,000 and rates are competitive, especially if customers use autopay. SoFi additionally offers special rates for students pursuing their MBA and Law degrees. SoFi loans will cover the full cost of attendance, including living expenses, books, etc. Since SoFi is entirely optimized for an online experience, the application is digital and can be completed extremely fast compared to other more traditional student loan providers. In fact, students can add a cosigner with just a click and know if they are approved within minutes. SoFi also a flexible complement of repayment options. With deferred, students can begin paying six months after they leave school. Interest only allows borrowers to pay off only the interest while they are in school. Partial payments enables students to pay $25 a month while they are in school. With the immediate option, students begin paying the principal and interest straight away.
| Loan Types | Undergraduate Graduate Parent |
| Minimum Loan Amount | $1,000 |
| Loan Term | Flexible |
| Repayment Options | Deferred Immediate Partial Interest Interest-Only |
| Deferment or Forbearance |
Fixed APR Range
Undergraduate: 3.54% APR to 15.99% APR (with autopay)
Graduate: 3.54% APR to 14.83% APR (with autopay)
Variable APR Range
Undergraduate: 5.54% APR – 15.99% APR (with autopay)
Graduate: 5.54% APR – 15.99% APR (with autopay)
Disclaimer
*Interest Rates: Eligibility and Important Details. Fixed rates range from 3.54% APR to 15.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount. Variable rates range from 5.54% APR to 15.99% APR with a 0.25% autopay discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with applicable law, Variable Interest rates are capped at 17.95%. SoFi rate ranges are current as of 11/20/24 and are subject to change at any time. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on the term and type of repayment option you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, presence of a co-signer (if applicable) and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most
creditworthy borrowers. Check out our eligibility criteria at https://www.sofi.com/eligibility-criteria/. For the SoFi variable-rate product, the variable interest rate for a given month is derived by adding a margin to the 30-day average SOFR index, published two business days preceding such calendar month, rounded up to the nearest one hundredth of one percent (0.01% or 0.0001). APRs for variable-rate loans may increase after origination if the SOFR index increases. The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. This benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit lowers your interest rate but does not
change the amount of your monthly payment. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment and forbearance. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. SoFi Private Student loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
SoFi Qualifications
Eligibility Criteria - 4.5 / 5
Qualification requirements for a SoFi student loan are fairly standard. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and can be enrolled full or half time. A cosigner is not required, but will be advantageous in most cases, especially for applicants with bad credit or no credit history.
| Course Load | Full-time Half-time |
| Citizenship Requirement | U.S. Citizen |
SoFi Customer Experience
Customer Experience - 4.5 / 5
SoFi offers a very fast online rate quote process with a user friendly interface. There is also a student loan calculator that can show students how long it will take to pay off their debt, and if refinancing is beneficial for them. In terms of discounts SoFi gives those who enroll in autopay a .25% interest rate reduction, and a further .125% off if the student or cosigner is already a SoFi member.
| Student Loan Calculator | |
| Online Quotes |
Discounts
0.25% interest rate reduction with autopay from checking or savings. An additional 0.125% if student or cosigner is SoFi member. This is a SoFi member benefit different from their repeat benefit. Also, returning borrowers and cosigners are eligible for a 0.25% discount on their SoFi Private Student Loan rate through the family discount and the continuing scholar discount. Terms and conditions apply. Offer good for customers who have previously borrowed a private student loan from SoFi and are taking out a subsequent loan only, and subject to lender approval. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate the Discount at any time.
SoFi Company Reputation
Additional Benefits - 4.5 / 5
SoFi earns an A+ rating with the BBB, partly due to its commitment to responding to negative customer reviews on the organization's website. Consumers on Trustpilot give Sofi 4.65 out of 5, with over 5,500 reviews.
Some common concerns among consumers are that the company allegedly turns borrowers down after initial approval and its loan application process can be somewhat complicated.
| Lender Type | Online Lender |
| Year Founded | 2011 |
| BBB Rating | A+ |
| Trust Pilot Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
| Date Collected | 2024-06-20 |
Company Profile
| Full Name | SoFi Private Student Loans |
| Company Website | |
| Headquarters | 1 Letterman Dr Bldg A STE 4700, San Francisco, CA, 94129 |
Our Partner
Easy Online Application
- Undergraduate fixed APRs from 3.54%-15.99% (with autopay)1
- No fees ever
- Flexible terms and repayment options
- Students with cosigners are 5x more likely to be approved*
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