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Best if:
- You want to take over responsibility for a parent PLUS loan
- You expect your income will grow
Advantage Education Loan offers student loan refinancing with fixed interest rates to borrowers nationwide. The Advantage Refinance Loan is provided by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) and serviced by the Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC), a state-based, non-profit lender.
Here’s everything you need to know about borrowing from Advantage.
In this post:
- Advantage Refinance Loan interest rates and loan details
- Advantage student loan refinancing review
- How Advantage compares to other lenders
- How to refinance student loans with Advantage
Advantage Refinance Loan interest rates and loan details
The Advantage Refinance Loan offers competitive rates and a choice of three repayment terms: 10, 15, or 20 years. You can refinance any federal or private student loans that were certified by your school, including PLUS loans taken out by your parents.
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| Fixed rates | 4.54%+ |
| Loan amounts | $7,500 up to up to $200,000 (larger balances require special approval) |
| Loan terms | 10, 15, or 20 years |
| Loan types | Any private or federal student loan (including parent PLUS loans) |
| Min. credit score | 670 |
| Min. income | $18,000 |
| Residency | U.S. citizen or noncitizen with proof of residency card |
| Cosigner release | Applications accepted after 36 months of on-time regularly scheduled payments |
| Transfer parent loan to child? | Yes |
| Death discharge available | Yes, cosigner released if borrower dies or is permanently disabled |
| Fees | No application, origination, or disbursement fees |
| Prepayment penalty | None |
| Key benefits | 0.25% autopay discount |
| Education | Varies by state (check with lender if degree required) |
| Loan servicer | Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC) |
| Best if |
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All APRs reflect autopay and loyalty discounts where available |
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Advantage student loan refinancing review
In addition to competitive rates, the Advantage Refinance Loan offers two options that aren’t offered by many lenders:
- A graduated repayment plan with low monthly payments that increase every two years
- The ability to transfer a parent PLUS loan to the child who benefited from it
If your parents took out a PLUS loan to help pay for your education, you can take over responsibility for it by refinancing it into your own name. You can refinance your own student loans into the same Advantage Refinance Loan.
How to qualify
Although Advantage does not refinance student loans for borrowers with credit scores of less than 670, qualifying depends on multiple factors, not just your credit score. To determine creditworthiness, Advantage looks at your credit history, income, the type of loans being refinanced, the repayment term selected, and your state of residence.
If you’re not able to qualify for an Advantage Refinance Loan on your own, you can apply with a cosigner. Once you’ve made 36 consecutive on-time monthly payments, you can apply to have your cosigner released from their obligation. While it’s great that Advantage offers cosigner release, some lenders will accept applications for cosigner release after just 12 or 24 months of payments.
If your income supports it, Advantage will refinance up to $200,000 in student loan debt. Larger amounts require special approval. A student loan repayment calculator can help you understand how changing your repayment term and interest rate affects your monthly payment.
Repayment
The Advantage Refinance Loan offers a repayment option that’s unusual for a private loan. If your monthly payments are taking too big of a bite out of your monthly paycheck, you can choose a “graduated repayment” plan. Under the graduated repayment plan, you’ll make a smaller monthly payment when you start out, with a 10% increase in your monthly payment every two years until your loan is paid off.
Also, if you have unexpected financial difficulties while making payments on an Advantage Refinance Loan, you can request temporary forbearance. If you can prove you’re experiencing economic hardship, or are on military deployment, you may be granted a temporary reprieve from your payments. Just remember that interest will still be accruing.
If you want to go back to graduate school, you won’t have the option of postponing your payments.
How Advantage compares to other lenders
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|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed rates from (APR) | 4.54%+ | 4.64%+2 | 3.20%+¹ |
| Variable rates from (APR) | N/A | 3.64%+2 | 2.49%+¹ |
| Loan repayment terms (years) | 10, 15, 20 | 16 options from 5 to 20 years | 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 |
| Loan amount | $7,500 to $200,000 | $5,000 to $300,000 | $10,000 to $500,000 (depending on level of education) |
| Cosigner release? | Applications accepted after 36 months of consecutive on-time payments | Not offered for refinancing | Yes, applications accepted after 36 months of consecutive payments |
| Transfer parent loan to child? | Yes | No | No |
| Loan servicer | Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC) | University Account Service (UAS) | Firstmark Services |
| Best for | Refinancing student loans taken out by parent | Graduates seeking flexible loan terms | Refinancing large loan balances |
All APRs reflect autopay and loyalty discounts where available | 1Citizens Bank Disclosures | 2College Ave Disclosures | 3 ELFI Disclosures | 4INvestEd Disclosures | 5SoFi Disclosures |
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Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan Rate Disclosure: Variable rate, based on the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") published in The Wall Street Journal on the twenty-fifth day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month. As of July 1, 2020, the one-month LIBOR rate is 0.18%. Variable interest rates range from 2.49%-8.38% (2.49%-8.38% APR) and will fluctuate over the term of the borrower's loan with changes in the LIBOR rate, and will vary based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a co-signer. Fixed interest rates range from 3.20%-8.63% (3.20%-8.63% APR) based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a co-signer. Lowest rates shown are for eligible, creditworthy applicants with a graduate level degree, require a 5-year repayment term and include our Loyalty discount and Automatic Payment discounts of 0.25 percentage points each, as outlined in the Loyalty and Automatic Payment Discount disclosures. The maximum variable rate on the Education Refinance Loan is the greater of 21.00% or Prime Rate plus 9.00%. Subject to additional terms and conditions, and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. Such changes will only apply to applications taken after the effective date of change. Please note: Due to federal regulations, Citizens Bank is required to provide every potential borrower with disclosure information before they apply for a private student loan. The borrower will be presented with an Application Disclosure and an Approval Disclosure within the application process before they accept the terms and conditions of their loan. |
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How to refinance student loans with Advantage
As a state-based, non-profit lender, Advantage Education Loan can provide competitive rates. Since every lender that offers student loan refinancing uses its own methods to evaluate borrowers, it’s a good idea to compare rates with multiple lenders before choosing a loan.
Credible lets you request rates from some of the best companies to refinance with, including Advantage Education Loan, without affecting your credit score. Remember that if your refinance federal student loans with a private lender, you’ll lose some borrower benefits, such as access to income-driven repayment programs that can lead to loan forgiveness.
Learn More: 9 Strategies for Paying Off Your Student Loans Faster
How Advantage can improve
Advantage Education Loan offers competitive rates and some unique options, such as the ability to transfer a parent PLUS loan into your own name. The Advantage Refinance Loan could be valuable to even more borrowers by:
- Offering a variable-rate option
- Allowing borrowers to apply for cosigner release sooner than 36 months
See Your Refinancing Options
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The company above is one of Credible’s approved partner lenders. Because they compete for your business through Credible, you can request rates from them by filling out a single form. Then, you can compare your available options side-by-side. Requesting rates is free, doesn’t affect your credit score, and your personal information is not shared with our partner lenders unless you see an option you like. Credible receives compensation if you close a loan with one of our partner lenders. The rates you receive and the fees you pay (if any) are not impacted by this compensation.
