Laurel Road Student Loans: 2024 Review

Written by
Hanneh Bareham
Edited by
Pippin Wilbers
Updated on November 13, 2023

At a glance

Bankrate 2024 Awards Winner: Best student loan for refinancing

Get my custom rates
Check rate with Credible
4.8
Bankrate Score
Caret Down
Repayment Options
4.4
Affordability
4.0
Customer Experience
4.8

About Bankrate Score

Full methodology

Laurel Road began originating loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of students refinance their loans. Although Laurel Road is not currently originating loans, there are refinancing solutions available to help you more effectively manage your student loan debt.

Lender Details

Moneybag

Loan amount

$5,000 to total cost of attendance

Rates

APR from

APR from 5.24% - 10.34% Variable; 5.19% - 10.14% Fixed (with autopay)

Clock Wait

Term lengths

5 to 20 years

Laurel Road features

Laurel Road is an online lender that offers student loan refinancing. It caters to students in the healthcare field by offering special rates to medical professionals looking to refinance. Graduate and undergraduate students both inside and outside healthcare can refinance their loans as soon as their final semester of school, as long as they have a signed employment contract. Laurel Road previously offered graduate student loans for select programs but declined to do so in the 2022-23 academic year.

Laurel Road: In the details

Loan Amount
$5,000 to full loan balance (maximum $50,000 for associate degree loans)
APR from
APR from 5.24% - 10.34% Variable; 5.19% - 10.14% Fixed (with autopay)
Term lengths
5 to 20 years
Grace period
6 months
Repayment terms
Refinancing loans: 5 to 20 years
Loan types
Refinancing
Cosigner required?
No

Pros and cons of Laurel Road student loans

Here are a few pros and cons to consider before taking out a loan with Laurel Road.

PROS

  • Checkmark

    Strict qualification: Laurel Road’s refinancing options for associate degree applicants are stringent. You must be enrolled in the final term of a Title IV eligible school with an offer letter in the healthcare field you’re currently studying in. If you’ve already graduated, eligibility is limited to associate degrees in select programs. Check to see if your school and program qualifies before applying.

  • Checkmark

    Few fees: Laurel Road doesn’t charge any application, origination or disbursement fees.

  • Checkmark

    No hard credit check: You can check to see if you qualify with a soft credit check, which won’t impact your credit score.

CONS

  • Close X

    Strict qualification: Laurel Road’s refinancing options for Associate degree applicants are stringent. You must be enrolled in the final term of a Title IV eligible school with an offer letter in the healthcare field you’re currently studying in. If you’ve already graduated, eligibility is limited to associate degrees in select programs. Check to see if your school and program qualifies before applying.

  • Close X

    Relatively short grace period: Laurel Road’s six-month grace period pales in comparison to that of some other lenders; Ascent‘s grace period, for instance, stretches from nine to 36 months for some programs.

  • Close X

    Continuing education forbearance: If you return to graduate school, enroll in a certificate program or begin a residency or fellowship, Laurel Road will only allow you to postpone payments under undefined “certain circumstances.”

Laurel Road student loan requirements

Eligibility requirements vary by loan type, but there are some common characteristics to be aware of. You’ll need to be attending or have graduated from a Title IV accredited institution. Graduate and undergraduate students can refinance as soon as their final semester at school if they have a signed letter of employment or contract.

For parent loan refinancing, the student must have attended a Title IV school but need not have graduated.

If you’re currently pursuing an associate degree, you may also be eligible to refinance if you meet one of the following criteria:

  •  You’re enrolled in the final term of an eligible associate degree program at a Title IV eligible school with an offer of employment in your field of study.
  • You’ve graduated with an associate degree in an eligible health care program and have been employed for at least 12 months in your field of study.

Visit Laurel Road’s website for the list of eligible programs.

Who is this loan good for?

Laurel Road is a good option for borrowers looking to refinance with an online lender offering competitive rates, low fees and many repayment plans. You’ll find even lower rates if you have medical loans.

Interest rates

Laurel Road offers two discounts: a 0.25 percent discount for setting up automatic payments and a discount of up to 0.30 percent for opening a Laurel Road checking account. The rates below include the autopay discount.

Loan product Variable rate Fixed rate
Student loan refinancing 5.24% to 10.34% APR 5.19% to 10.14% APR
Parent loan refinancing 5.24% to 10.34% APR 5.19% to 10.14% APR
Medical loan refinancing 4.97% to 10.05% APR 4.92% to 9.85% APR

Fees and penalties 

Laurel Road charges very few fees. You won’t be charged an application, disbursement or origination fee. However, you will be charged a late fee of 5 percent or $28 if you fail to make a payment within 15 days of the due date, plus a $20 returned check fee if you have insufficient funds in your account.

Repayment terms and grace period

For loans it originates, Laurel Road offers a six-month grace period from the time of graduation. You also have the option to change your due date to better fit your budget. Here are its repayment options for graduate school student loans:

  • Full deferment: You don’t make payments during your schooling or your grace period.
  • Flat repayment: You’ll pay a flat rate of $50 a month while you’re in school and during your grace period.
  • Interest-only repayment: You’ll make interest-only payments while in school and during your grace period.
  • Immediate repayment: You start making full payments as soon as you start school.

If you refinance a loan with Laurel Road while the original loan was still in a grace or in-school deferment period, Laurel Road will honor the existing expiration date.

How to apply for a loan with Laurel Road

The application process for refinancing your existing loans can be done completely online. Here’s what the application process will look like, according to Laurel Road:

  1. Answer a few questions and authorize a soft credit pull to determine your estimated rates (which are preliminary and subject to change upon underwriting review).
  2. Upload the necessary documents to the online dashboard and authorize a hard credit pull. This completes the application, and if you’re approved, you’ll receive your final rates and terms.
  3. Select your loan type and e-sign the provided documents on the dashboard.
  4. Begin payments in accordance with your repayment schedule. 

If you’re applying for a graduate student loan, the process will look similar. After checking rates with a soft credit pull, you’ll have to authorize a hard credit check and provide the requested documentation, which can include information about you, your co-signer, your education and your cost of attendance.

Customer service

Laurel Road gets an “A” from the Better Business Bureau. KeyBank, the company that provides Laurel Road’s loans, gets an “A+.” The score is calculated using the company’s complaint history and how it responds to complaints.

Laurel Road’s customer service department is available to take calls at 833-427-2265 seven days a week. Its hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. You can also email or use the Laurel Road live chat feature.

Laurel Road frequently asked questions 

How Bankrate rates Laurel Road

Overall Score 4.3
Repayment Options 4.4 Laurel Road has fewer loan types than most lenders. With that said, the lender does cover the entire cost of attendance or existing loan amount.
Affordability 4.0 Laurel Road’s rates are low, though it has a short grace period and a few fees.
Customer Experience 4.5 While Laurel Road doesn’t have 24/7 customer service, it does have a broader range of hours than most other lenders.

Methodology

The Bankrate team evaluated over a dozen lenders to select our top picks for the best student loans. To do this, Bankrate considers 14 factors, including loan amounts, fees, repayment terms and options, as well as fixed and variable APR ranges. Then, lenders are rated using our vetting system known as the Bankrate Score, which focuses on three main categories.

  • Availability: We looked at minimum and maximum loan amounts, as well as the lender’s eligibility requirements, co-signer option, degrees covered and state availability. Lenders that offered the most flexibility as well as nationwide servicing and that offered financing for a variety of programs ranked higher in this section.
  • Affordability: Fixed and variable interest rates, fees, penalties and discounts were measured in this category. Lenders with the lowest rates, fewer fees and multiple discounts got the higher scores.
  • Customer experience: Our team looked at the ease of the application process, as well as online account management tools, customer support hours, app availability, repayment options and grace periods offered by the lenders. This allowed us to determine the lenders’ ability to satisfactorily serve customers.

Editorial disclosure: All reviews are prepared by Bankrate.com staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Check the data at the top of this page and the lender’s website for the most current information.