Best low-interest student loans of August 2024

Federal student loans typically offer the lowest interest rates, but they can only finance so much of one’s education. Oftentimes, borrowers also need to take out a private student loan in addition to fill in any gaps.

Private student loan interest rates vary widely depending on your credit, but if you have good credit you could score a low rate. CNBC Select set out to find the best low-interest student loans. We focused on lenders’ interest rates, whether they offer both fixed and variable rates, any rate discounts with autopay, as well as lenders’ credit requirements and eligibility, repayment terms and fees. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)

*Rates used below are for the respective lenders’ undergraduate student loans (unless otherwise indicated) and, when applicable, include an autopay discount.

Who’s this for? College Ave stands out among other online lenders for its competitive interest rates and longer repayment terms. Plus, it charges no application, origination or prepayment fees.

Standout benefits: Borrowers have many options for repayment: pay in school — whether full principal and interest, interest-only payments or a flat $25 monthly payment — or defer payments until after school. College Ave also offers hardship protections like deferment, forbearance and grace period options.

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Who’s this for? Citizens Bank is ideal if you want to borrow from a brick-and-mortar bank and still want to benefit from competitive student loan rates, plus no application, origination or prepayment fees.

Standout benefits: There are over 1,000 Citizens Bank branches for all your in-person banking needs. Citizens Bank also offers hardship protections like forbearance, and student loan borrowers can start repaying while still in school.

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Who’s this for? You should consider Sallie Mae if you’re applying with a co-signer and want a relatively fast co-signer release option. With any private lender, borrowers have a better chance of scoring a lower rate if they have a co-signer. Sallie Mae lets borrowers release that co-signer after they graduate, make 12 on-time principal and interest payments and meet certain credit requirements.

Standout benefits: Borrowers can take advantage of no origination, application or prepayment fees. Borrower protections include deferment and forbearance. Sallie Mae lets its borrowers start repaying their loans while still in school.

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Who’s this for? Ascent is ideal if you’re applying without a co-signer. Any non-cosigned student loan will have a higher interest rate than a cosigned student loan but Ascent’s rates are on the lower end for this type of loan, letting students without a co-signer qualify on their own even with poor credit.

Standout benefits: Ascent has no fees for paying off your loan early, as well as no origination or application fee. Ascent also offers rewards like 1% cash back on principal loan amounts at graduation and there are deferment and forbearance options available to borrowers. Ascent student loan borrowers can start making their payments while in school.

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Who’s this for? SoFi is worth considering if you want to refinance your student loan. Refinancing gives borrowers a shot at scoring a lower interest rate, as well as a different repayment term.

Standout benefits: SoFi student loan borrowers can get unemployment protection and other forbearance options, plus make student loan payments while still in school. SoFi also offers member benefits like premium travel offers, personalized career advice, financial planning from real-life advisors and an unemployment protection program to temporarily modify their loan payments

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College Ave offers undergraduate fixed interest rates ranging from 4.22% to 17.99% APR and undergraduate variable interest rates ranging from 5.59% to 17.99% APR. These rates include a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay. Borrowers with College Ave student loans can start repaying while still in school.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, graduate health professions and parent loans

Loan amounts

$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

5, 8, 10, 15 years; graduate loans up to 20 years

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Citizens Bank offers undergraduate student loans with fixed interest rates ranging from 4.24% to 15.60% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 5.99% to 16.60% APR. These rates include a combined 0.50% loyalty and autopay rate discount for Citizens account holders.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans

Loan amounts

$150,000 maximum, or cost of attendance, whichever is lower

Loan terms

5, 10, 15 years

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Sallie Mae’s interest rates are competitive with other private lenders. It offers undergraduate fixed interest rates ranging from 4.15% to 15.49% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 5.37% to 15.70% APR. These rates include a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, health profession, medical and dental residency loans, bar study loans and career training student loans

Loan amounts

$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

10, 15 years

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Ascent considers those without established credit, as well as those who meet the minimum credit requirements but not the income or repayment requirements. In these cases, the lender looks at other factors like a borrower’s school, program, graduation date, major, GPA, cost of attendance and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

On its non-cosigned student loans that aren’t based on a borrower’s credit or minimum income, Ascent offers undergraduate fixed interest rates ranging from 13.09% to 15.08% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 13.46% to 15.40% APR. These specific outcomes-based loans include a 1.00% rate discount when signing up for autopay.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, health professions and PhD, Master’s loans

Loan amounts

$2,001 minimum; maximum up to $200,000 for undergraduate loans; up to $400,000 for graduate loans

Loan terms

5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 years

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SoFi offers solid refinancing rates, along with no application or origination fees and no prepayment penalties. Its fixed rates range from 5.24% to 9.99% APR and its variable rates range from 6.24% to 9.99% APR. These rates include a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay.

Eligible loans

Undergraduate and graduate loans, parent loans, health professions loans

Loan amounts

$5,000 minimum (or up to state); maximum up to cost of attendance

Loan terms

5, 7, 10, 15 years; refinancing loans up to 20 years

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To get a low-interest student loan, first consider federal student loans since they don’t take into account your credit and offer pretty low rates. For anything that federal loans don’t cover, you can consider getting funding from a private lender on this list. Those with good credit will have a better chance at scoring an interest rate on the lower end of the ranges they offer, and you’ll often find that the fixed rates are lower than the variable rates lenders advertise.

To choose a low-interest student loan, you’ll want to see if the private lender has made public their credit score and/or minimum income requirements to see if you qualify. You may want to consider getting a creditworthy co-signer to sign onto your loan and increase your odds of a better interest rate.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every student loan review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of student loan products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best low-interest student loans.

To determine which private student loans have the lowest interest, CNBC Select analyzed and compared private student loan funding from national banks, credit unions and online lenders. We narrowed down our ranking by only considering those that offer competitive student loan rates and prequalification tools that don’t hurt borrowers’ credit.

While the companies we chose in this article consistently rank as having some of the market’s lower interest rates, we also compared each company on the following features:

• Broad availability: All of the companies on our list offer undergraduate and graduate private student loans, and they all offer variable and fixed interest rates to choose from.
• Flexible loan terms: Each company provides a variety of financing options that borrowers can customize based on their monthly budget and how long they need to pay back their student loan. Each company also allows borrowers to start repaying their student loans while still in school, ultimately saving them money.
• No origination or signup fee: None of the companies on our list charge borrowers an upfront “origination fee” for taking out their loan.
• No early payoff penalties: The companies on our list do not charge borrowers prepayment penalties for paying off loans early.
• Streamlined application process: We made sure companies offered a fast online application process.
• Autopay discounts: All of the companies listed offer an autopay interest rate discount.
• Private student loan protections: Each company on our list offers some type of financial hardship protection for borrowers.
• Loan sizes: The above companies offer private student loans in an array of sizes, all the way up to the cost of college attendance. Each company advertises its respective loan sizes, and completing a preapproval process can give borrowers an idea of what their interest rate and monthly payment would be.
• Credit requirements/eligibility: We took into consideration the minimum credit scores and income levels required if this information was available.
• Customer support: Every company on our list provides customer service available via telephone, email or secure online messaging. We also opted for lenders with an online resource hub or advice center to help borrowers educate themselves about student loans in general.

After reviewing the above features, we sorted our recommendations by best from an online lender, best from a brick-and-mortar bank, best for applying with a co-signer, best for applying without a co-signer and best for refinancing.

Note that the rates and fee structures for private student loans are not guaranteed forever; they are subject to change without notice and they often fluctuate in accordance with the Fed rate. Choosing a fixed-rate APR will guarantee that one’s interest rate and monthly payment will remain consistent throughout the entire term of the loan.

A borrower’s interest rate depends on their credit score, income, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, savings, payment history and overall financial health. To take out private student loans, lenders will conduct a hard credit inquiry and request a full application, which could require proof of income, identity verification, proof of address and more.

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