Federal student loans typically offer the lowest interest rates. Federal student loan rates are set by the government, don't factor in a borrower's credit and are fixed, meaning they don't change once a borrower takes out the loan. But federal loans 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 the gap.
Private student loan interest rates vary, but these days, the top lenders offer fixed interest rates that are comparable to federal student loans, which are currently at 5.50% on undergraduate direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The only catch with private student loans is that not everyone will get the lowest rate. With a private student loan, your interest rate is determined by factors like your credit score, credit history and income.
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.)
Best low-interest student loans
- Best overall: College Ave
- Runner-up: Citizens Bank
- Best for applying with a co-signer: Sallie Mae
- Best for applying without a co-signer: Ascent
- Best for refinancing: SoFi
*Rates used below are for the respective lenders' undergraduate student loans (unless otherwise indicated) and, when applicable, include an autopay discount.
Best overall
College Ave
Eligible borrowers
Undergraduate and graduate students, parents
Loan amounts
$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance
Loan terms
Range from 5 to 20 years
Loan types
Variable and fixed
Borrower protections
Deferment, forbearance and grace period options available
Co-signer required?
Only for international students
Offer student loan refinancing?
Yes - click here for details
Terms apply.
Pros
- High loan amount
- Flexible repayment terms
- Variable and fixed rates, so you can choose
- Borrowers have hardship protections
- No co-signer required for U.S. students
- Offers co-signer release
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- 0.25% interest rate discount for autopay
- Offers student loan refinancing
- Accepts in-school payments
Cons
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
- Co-signer release can't be made until half of repayment term has passed
College Ave currently offers undergraduate fixed interest rates ranging from 4.07% - 15.48% APR (graduate fixed rates from 4.07% - 14.49% APR), and undergraduate variable interest rates ranging from 5.59% to 16.69% APR (graduate variable rates from 5.59% - 14.49% APR). There's a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay, and borrowers have many options when it comes to repayment: pay in school, whether it's full principal and interest, interest-only payments or a flat $25 monthly payment, or defer payments until after school.
Runner-up
Citizens™
Eligible borrowers
Undergraduate and graduate students, parents
Loan amounts
$150,000 maximum, or cost of attendance, whichever is lower
Loan terms
Range from 5 to 15 years
Loan types
Variable and fixed
Borrower protections
Forbearance options available
Co-signer required?
No
Offer student loan refinancing?
Yes - click here for details
Terms apply.
Pros
- Flexible repayment terms
- Variable and fixed rates, so you can choose
- Borrowers have hardship protections
- No co-signer required
- Offers co-signer release
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- Up to 0.50% interest rate discount for autopay
- Offers student loan refinancing
- Accepts in-school payments
Cons
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
- Loan amount is limited to $150,000 maximum, or cost of attendance, whichever is lower
Citizens Bank offers fixed interest rates ranging from 4.99% to 13.29% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 6.37% to 14.27% APR. There's a 0.50% loyalty and autopay discount for Citizens account holders.
Best for applying with a co-signer
Sallie Mae Student Loan
Eligible borrowers
Undergraduate and graduate students, borrowers seeking career training
Loan amounts
$1,000 minimum; maximum up to cost of attendance
Loan terms
Range from 10 to 15 years
Loan types
Variable and fixed
Borrower protections
Deferment and forbearance options available
Co-signer required?
No
Offer student loan refinancing?
No
Terms apply.
Pros
- High loan amount
- Variable and fixed rates, so you can choose
- Borrowers have hardship protections
- No co-signer required
- Offers co-signer release
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- 0.25% interest rate discount for autopay
- Accepts in-school payments
Cons
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
- Doesn't offer student loan refinancing
Sallie Mae offers fixed interest rates ranging from 4.50% to 15.49% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 6.37% to 16.70% APR. There's a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay. With any private lender, borrowers have a better chance of scoring a lower rate if they have a co-signer. Sallie Mae lets borrowers eventually release that co-signer after they graduate, make 12 on-time principal and interest payments and meet certain credit requirements.
Best for applying without a co-signer
Ascent® Funding
Eligible borrowers
Qualifying undergraduate juniors and seniors, graduate students
Loan amounts
Up to $200,000 for undergraduate and $400,000 for graduate loans
Loan terms
Range from 5 to 15 years
Loan types
Variable and fixed
Borrower protections
Deferment and forbearance options available
Co-signer required?
No
Offer student loan refinancing?
No
Terms apply.
Pros
- Considers borrowers with no credit
- High loan amount
- Variable and fixed rates, so you can choose
- Borrowers have hardship protections
- No co-signer required
- Offers co-signer release
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- Up to 1% interest rate discount for autopay
- 1% cash back rewards
- Accepts in-school payments
Cons
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
- Doesn't offer student loan refinancing
Ascent offers fixed interest rates ranging from 13.05% to 15.04% APR and variable interest rates ranging from 13.27% to 15.18% APR on its non-cosigned student loans. 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. There's up to a 1% rate discount when signing up for autopay.
Best for refinancing
SoFi
Eligible borrowers
Undergraduate and graduate students, parents, health professionals
Loan amounts
$5,000 minimum (or up to state); maximum up to cost of attendance
Loan terms
Range from 5 to 15 years; up to 20 years for refinancing loans
Loan types
Variable and fixed
Co-signer required?
No
Offer student loan refinancing?
Yes - click here for details
Offer parent loan?
Yes - click here for details
Terms apply.
Pros
- High loan amount
- Variable and fixed rates, so you can choose
- No co-signer required
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- 0.25% interest rate discount for autopay
- 0.125% interest rate discount on any additional SoFi lending product
- Offers student loan refinancing
- Accepts in-school payments
Cons
- Non-cosigned loans tend to charge higher interest rates
- No co-signer release option available
- Loan size minimum of $5,000
SoFi offers fixed refinancing interest rates ranging from 8.99% - 29.99% APR. Refinancing gives borrowers a shot at scoring a lower interest rate, as well as a different repayment term. There's a 0.25% rate discount when signing up for autopay.
Compare offers to find the best student loan
More on our top low-interest student loans
College Ave
College Ave offers competitive interest rates, plus no application, origination or prepayment fees. College Ave also offers hardship protections like deferment, forbearance and grace period options. 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
Citizens Bank
Citizens Bank is the one brick-and-mortar bank on this list offering competitive student loan rates, plus no application, origination or prepayment fees. Citizens Bank also offers hardship protections like forbearance, and student loan borrowers can start repaying while still in school.
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
Sallie Mae
Sallie Mae's interest rates are competitive with other private lenders. 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.
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
Ascent
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).
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.
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
SoFi
SoFi offers solid refinancing rates, along with no application or origination fees and no prepayment penalties. Borrowers can get unemployment protection and other forbearance options, plus make student loan payments while still in school.
SoFi student loan borrowers get 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
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
FAQs
What type of student loan has the lowest interest rate?
Federal student loans typically offer the lowest interest rates. These are issued by the U.S. Department of Education and most students will qualify for at least some type of federal aid.
Which bank has the lowest interest rate for student loans?
Because student loan rates are always changing and they're advertised as a range, there's not one bank that has the lowest rates. There are a handful (those on this list), however, that offer rates competitive with one another. Just keep in mind that the rate you receive is dependent on your personal finances like your credit score and income.
How to get a low-interest student loan with bad credit?
It's difficult to get any sort of low-interest loan with bad credit, since banks and lenders usually charge higher rates to borrowers with worse credit as they're seen as higher risks. Your best bet is to see how much you can get in federal student loans since there's just one rate and borrowers' credit isn't a factor. Federal student loans generally have the lowest interest rates, too.
Is it possible to get a lower rate in the future?
It is possible to get a lower interest rate on your student loans in the future by refinancing. Refinancing lets you choose a new loan term and you can score a lower interest rate the better your credit is. Check out CNBC Select's list of the top student loan refinance companies to get started.
Bottom line
The lowest-interest student loans are typically federal student loans, but when you need more financing, the private lenders on this list offer some of the best rates. The rest is up to your credit and finances to determine the exact rate you get. Shop around and see what you prequalify for, which won't hurt your credit score.
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Why trust CNBC Select?
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.
Read more
Our methodology
To determine which 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 overall, runner-up, 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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