Refinancing your student loans can help you pay them off faster if you select a shorter repayment term. Paying off your student loans as quickly as possible could help you pay less interest over the life of the loan and free up money that you can use to pursue other financial goals, like purchasing a house. 

Here’s how refinancing can help you pay off your student loan debt sooner, which student loan refinance lenders may be best for you, and how to refinance. 

Visit Credible to learn more about student loan refinancing and compare rates from multiple private student loan lenders.

Student loan refinancing involves taking out a new private student loan and using the funds to pay off any balances on your initial private and federal student loans. This leaves you with just one student loan to repay. It could help you pay off the debt faster and save thousands of dollars if you get a shorter repayment period, lower interest rate, or both.

You may have heard of student loan consolidation, but this is a bit different from refinancing. With consolidation, you can combine multiple federal loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Your interest rate will be a weighted average of what you were paying on your existing loans, so it may not be lower. You can’t consolidate private loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

If you want to refinance your student loans, these 11 Credible partner lenders are a good place to start:

The following two lenders aren’t Credible partners, so you won’t be able to easily compare your rates with them on the Credible platform. But they may also be worth considering if you want to refinance your student loans. 

Credible evaluated private student loan lenders in 10 different categories to determine the best lenders for refinancing student loans. This included interest rates, repayment options, terms, fees, discounts, customer service availability, as well as eligibility requirements and cosigner release options.

Whether you’re trying to pay your student loans off in 10 years or you’re seeking the best way to pay off medical school loans as quickly as possible, it’s vital to shop around. When comparing options, consider the following:

You can easily compare prequalified rates from multiple lenders using Credible. 

Follow these steps to refinance your student loans:

1. Since not all lenders offer the same terms, you’ll want to do your research and compare them.
2. If you meet the lenders’ eligibility criteria, you’ll see the prequalified rates and loan products you qualify for.
3. Rates and terms differ from lender to lender, which is why it’s important to request rates from multiple lenders.
4. Fill out a form and apply. The lender will conduct a hard credit pull (which does affect your credit score), verify your documents, analyze your debt-to-income ratio, and more.
5. Continue making payments on your current loans until your new loan application is approved and you get confirmation that your existing balances have been paid off.

You may beconsidering refinancing as a way to pay off student loans fast, though it won’t be the best decision for everyone. Individual circumstances, such as your income and amount of debt, influence whether refinancing makes sense in your unique financial situation.

Refinancing can be a smart decision if your credit has improved since you took out your original loans. A higher credit score may help you qualify for a lower interest rate. If you won’t see a significant drop in interest rate, though, refinancing might not make sense. 

On the other hand, if you have federal student loans, refinancing them into a private student loan will mean you lose eligibility for federal relief, benefits, or protections — including qualifying for the student loan debt relief plan just announced by the Biden-Harris Administration. 

To get started on refinancing your student loans, visit Credible and compare prequalified rates from multiple lenders.