We get a lot of questions at CommonBond from graduates who used multiple loans to fund their degrees (most people have!) and want to refinance all or some of those loans into a lower rate.
We wanted to share the basics about which student loans can be refinanced and consolidated and which cannot using some examples that are pretty common:
What Loans Can CommonBond Refinance?
- Federal student loans: These include the Direct Stafford Loan, Grad PLUS Loan, and any other loan programs managed by the U.S. government.
- Private student loans: This category includes student loans issued by banks, for example.
- Previously consolidated student loans
- Parent PLUS loans
What Loans Are CommonBond Unable to Refinance?
- Personal loans: These include loans you take out for additional expenses incurred while in school—for example, to fund a wedding—yet are not certified by your school.
- Bar study loans: Loans that you take out to prep for the bar or any other exam do not qualify because your school does not certify these as qualified education expenses.
- Loans from family and friends: If your loan for school came from a friend or a relative rather than a student lending company, this loan also counts as a personal loan and therefore cannot be refinanced through CommonBond.
- International student loans