Options for Medical School Student Loan Refinancing

Last updated April 2020.

Medical school is expensive and getting more so every year. Meanwhile, federal student loans are still at above market rates (and many private ones are predatory). Combine the two and a new doctor will borrow more and then pay more for the privilege than at any other time in history.

Over the past two years, historically low interest rates and a rebounding economy mean that private banks have re-entered the student loan business, particularly on the refinancing side.

As a resident, your options are essentially limited. Starting in March of 2015, DRB became the first company to offer a resident refinancing program that is unique, practical, and affordable for residents ($100 a month).

I wrote about refinancing as a resident at length in this post.

Otherwise, here is the complete picture for student loan refinancing.1Many of these programs have referral programs, so if you were to refinance through one of the links below, you would also be supporting me/this site. After negotiating, most have been kind enough to extend even bigger bonuses to the referees (you), which I’ve enumerated below.

TL;DR

There are only a handful of options and the initial applications are short (really short, ~5 minutes or less). Rate ranges are typically concordant and are theoretically as low as the 2%-range variable across lenders. All quote you low rates assuming you’ll auto-debit from a checking/savings account. Initial applications will result in a soft pull on credit (does not affect your credit score) and give you a preliminary rate, so if you have good cash flow and can otherwise afford your loans (i.e. you’re an attending), you’ll do yourself no harm by simply applying for refinancing from each company and seeing which one is willing to refinance you at the best rate:

[This old page is here for archive purposes. I’ve removed the specific company references.]

Summary

Overall, the interest rate ranges offered by these companies are generally comparable. Typically when one lowers their rates, the others have followed quickly followed suit.2Current rates have recently lowered again with variable rates at the moment as low as 1.9% The increasing competition in this space has been excellent for consumers, because the rates offered even a year ago weren’t that much lower than the federal ones. So, if you have several potential options based on your loan burden and your income, you might as well apply to all and see who gives you the best deal.3The initial applications don’t affect your credit score. When you move forward and actually apply for financing from several student loan companies within a short time frame once, it’s still considered a single hit on your credit report (no penalty for comparison shopping). Preliminary applications generally take 2-5 minutes, so there isn’t a big time investment in doing your due diligence. There are never any fees or costs to refinancing with any of these players, so you can refinance, keep an eye on the rates, and refinance again if they go down.

Bonuses: As mentioned above, I was able to convince several companies to provide a monetary incentive for you, dear reader, should you choose to refinance with them (in addition to a more standard referral bounty to me). I’m pretty pleased about that, as this allows you to effortlessly support me/this site as well as yourself.