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SoFi student loans: 2024 review

Updated on Dec 03, 2024

At a glance

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4.8
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
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Repayment Options
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5
4.8
Affordability
Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5
4.6
Customer Experience
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
5.0

About Bankrate Score

SoFi offers a flexible loan terms and competitive rates to pay for a full range of educational pursuits from undergraduate to professional degrees. The lender doesn’t charge any fees, and provides unique benefits like good grades, cash bonus awards, reward points for credit score building activities and discounts for returning in-school borrowers. It also has one of the shortest co-signer release options available, which takes the financial burden of your student loan off of parents or family members. 

Lender Details

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Loan amount

$1,000 to total cost of attendance

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APR from

5.54% Variable APR; 3.54% Fixed

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Term lengths

5 to 15 years

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Min Credit Score

640

New vs. refinance student loans with SoFi

SoFi offers fixed and variable private student loan rate options with terms ranging from 5 to 15 years. You can borrow as little as $1,000 or for the full cost of your education. Discounts are available for existing SoFi members and for enrolling in automatic payments.

You can get a SoFi loan to pay for undergraduate, graduate, law, MBA and health professional degrees. The lender also offers parent loans to qualified borrowers. SoFi also offers student loan refinance options with terms up to 20 years. 

Fixed APR Variable APR Dollar amount Term range
New private student loans for undergrad, graduate, law, MBA and health professionals 3.54%-15.99% 5.54%-15.99% $1,000 to full cost of education 5-15 years
Parent loans 5.74%-16.85% 6.07%-16.85% $1,000 to full cost of education 5-15 years
Undergraduate, law and MBA refinance 4.49%-9.99% 5.99%-9.99% $1,000 to full balance of eligible education loans 5-20 years
Medical professional refinance 3.87%-9.99% 5.87%-9.99% $1,000 to full balance of eligible education loans 5-20 years
Medical/dental residency refinance 6.14%-9.84% 6.14%-9.84% $10,001 up to full balance of education loans 5-20 years
Parent Plus refinance 4.49%-9.99% 5.99%-9.99% $1,000 up to full balance of existing loans 5-20 years

New private student loans

Students can access funds to pay for school-certified costs with a variety of loan terms and repayment options. The rates are the same for undergraduate, graduate, MBA, law and health professionals, and may be below 4 percent for borrowers with excellent credit co-signers. SoFi’s minimum rates for parent loans run higher than other options, which is typical among student lenders.

The lender doesn’t charge any fees — a rarity — and offers a fully digital prequalification and application experience. You have four repayment options to manage your payments while in school or you can delay payments until six months after graduation (nine months for health professionals) with the deferment option. 

  • Deferment: The deferment option allows you to hold off on any payments until six months after graduating. Since interest accrues during that time, it is the highest-cost option. Health professionals have an extra 3 months (for a total of 9 months) if they choose the deferment option. This option is not available for parent loans.
  • Interest-only: If you want to make some headway on repaying your balance before graduation, you can pay the interest on the balance you owe while you’re in school. The payment is lower and will knock down your total costs. 
  • Partial: This option allows you to pay $25 per month while you’re in school. It’s the lowest in-school payment option SoFi offers and shaves off some cost since you’re paying some principal each month. 
  • Immediate: You’ll have the highest monthly payment during school, but pay the lowest total cost for the life of the loan. 

SoFi student loan refinancing

Students with existing student loans can take advantage of SoFi’s refinance program that allows them to refinance their balances with terms as long as 20 years. You’ll need at least $1,000 worth of student loans to qualify, and rates are slightly higher than what you’ll find for new loans. 

You can add a co-signer if you need to to help you qualify for a large balance, and SoFi offers both fixed and variable rate options. It’s also possible to refinance consolidated loans or to combine federal and private loans into one new SoFi refinance loan. 

SoFi also offers specialized refinancing programs for medical residents that give them the option to pay just $100 per month during residence for up to seven years. Parent Plus refinance loans are also available with a maximum term of 15 years.

Where SoFi stands out

  • Wide range of repayments terms for refinancing: Refinance loan terms stretch up to 20 years.
  • New and refinance loan perks available: SoFi offers an impressive variety of new and refinance loan programs with special perks like autopayment discounts and even cash bonuses for good grades. Medical residents may qualify for special low payments while they are completing their residency. 
  • No fees: SoFi allows you to fund the entire cost of your education if you qualify with no fees for any of its loans except the interest rate you qualify for. 

Where SoFi falls short

  • Graduation requirement for refinancing: To refinance with SoFi, you must have graduated with at least an associate's degree. If you left school before graduation, you're out of luck.
  • Expensive rates for undergrad parent loans: SoFi’s parent student loan rates are much higher than other loan types it offers.
  • Short undergrad and graduate loan terms: While many lenders offer 20 year terms for new loans, SoFi caps its term at 15 years, leaving you with a higher payment when repayment begins unless you refinance. 

SoFi customer resources

Human phone support is available Monday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT and Friday through Sunday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. SoFi has a 24/7 virtual assistant that may be able to answer general questions.

How this lender compares

logo
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5
4.8
Bankrate Score
APR from
5.54% Variable APR; 3.54% Fixed
Loan Amount
$1,000 to total cost of attendance
Min Credit Score
640
logo
Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5
4.4
Bankrate Score
APR from
5.87% Variable; 3.94% Fixed (with autopay)
Loan Amount
$1,000 to total cost of attendance
Min Credit Score
650
logo
Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5
4.8
Bankrate Score
APR from
5.54% Variable APR; 3.54% Fixed
Loan Amount
$1,000 to total cost of attendance
Min Credit Score
640

SoFi vs. Earnest

SoFi offers a wider range of perks and benefits than Earnest including grade-based cash bonuses. SoFi also offers its student loan products in all 50 states, while Earnest only originates in select states. 

Earnest offers a unique skip-a-payment option for students every 12 months and a merit-based qualifying system for students who want to refinance. SoFi doesn’t offer those options. Earnest also offers a standard nine-month deferment grace period for all of its new loans that’s only available to medical professionals at SoFi. 

Sofi vs. College Ave

SoFi’s minimum and maximum APRs are significantly lower than College Ave, making it a pricey choice compared to SoFi. It also has a maximum loan refinance cap of $500,000, while SoFi allows you to refinance the outstanding balance of eligible student loans. 

On the other hand, College Ave also offers grace periods of up to 36 months for medical students, far longer than SoFi’s nine-month cap.

Do you qualify for a student loan with SoFi?

 In order to qualify for a SoFi new student loan or refinance you or your co-signer will need to verify the following:

  • Credit score of at least 640.
  • Document that you’re old enough to enter a contract in your state.
  • Proof of U.S. citizenship or non-permanent resident alien status.
  • Sufficient income for you or a co-signer to qualify for the loan, or that your employment starts within the next 90 days.
  • Proof of enrollment or graduation toward a degree at a Title IV eligible school. 
  • Evidence that debt you are refinancing is educational debt (bar and residency debt is not applicable).

How to apply for a student loan with Sofi

SoFi’s qualification process is done entirely online, although you are able to contact an advisor during its regular business hours seven days a week. The process follows three basic steps:

  1. Input your information into the online application. You’ll need to add a co-signer at this point if you don’t think or know you won’t qualify for the loan on your own. 
  2. Once you complete the application, SoFi will provide you with rate options with details about your monthly payment at different terms. 
  3. When you make your final term decision, you’ll wait for your schools approval after signing documents and the funds will be disbursed to your school when classes start. 

How Bankrate rates SoFi student loans

Overall Score 4.8
Availability 24.8 Wide range of loan amounts and terms available at competitive rates for both new loans and refinance loans.
Affordability 4.6 SoFi offers competitive rates, multiple discounts and the option to add a co-signer.
Customer Experience 5.0 Seven day a week customer service available with online support.

Methodology

Bankrate's trusted student loans industry expertise

48

years in business

25

lenders reviewed

16

loan features weighed

400

data points collected

The Bankrate team uses a 16-point system to evaluate student loan lenders. This scoring criteria measures how lenders perform across three main categories.

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.

What customers think

SoFi earns a solid 4.5 of 5-star rating on third-person review site Trustpilot after nearly 9,000 reviews, though relatively few specifically mention their student loans. One happy repeat customer says:

"I’ve used SoFi several times. I refinanced my daughter’s student loan and had 2 personal loans. I’m grateful they’ve helped me to meet my financial goals."

Trustpilot user

Outlinked content may contain views and opinions that do not reflect the views and opinions of Bankrate. Please see the issuer’s website for updated terms and conditions.

Community SoFi scores

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STUDENT LOAN

SoFi

Dive into community reviews below and see what others think about SoFi.

4.2 Star Icon
26 ratings
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Score breakdown
5 stars
42%
4 stars
38%
3 stars
15%
2 stars
0%
1 star
4%
Score by category
Overall rating 4.2 / 5
Fees & closing costs 3.6 / 5
Funding time 4.3 / 5
Customer service 3.7 / 5
Application process 4 / 5
Online portal or mobile app 4.2 / 5
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In July 2024, Bankrate collaborated with a third-party vendor to survey 1.3K loan borrowers nationwide. Bankrate and our vendor collected and summarized borrower responses to five questions on a 5-point scale, three yes/no questions, as well as open-ended reviews of their loan experience. Responses are based on individual borrower’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by the associated lenders, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own expert review of these loan products.

Community Reviews

See what users like you are saying about SoFi.
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Anonymous Borrower
August 20, 2024
Describe why you selected this lender
They process time is short, offering high loan amounts and lengthy terms for payments.
Loan purpose
Refinance your student loan
Score by category
Fees & closing costs 4 / 5
Funding time 4 / 5
Online portal or mobile app 5 / 5
Customer service 5 / 5
Application process 5 / 5
Anonymous Borrower
August 20, 2024
Describe your experience with the application process
the best offers and customer service over all
Loan purpose
Refinance your student loan
Score by category
Fees & closing costs 5 / 5
Funding time 4 / 5
Online portal or mobile app 4 / 5
Customer service 3 / 5
Application process 4 / 5
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