Best Parent PLUS Loan Refinance Lenders

Student loans aren't just for students; parents can borrow them, too. In fact, 3.6 million Americans owed $114.9 billion in parent PLUS loans — the federal loan option for parent borrowers — made up 12% of all college borrowing over the past three academic years, according to the College Board.

Parent PLUS loans have the highest federal interest rate, and loans taken out on or after July 1, 2026, are limited to a single repayment plan. If you have a parent PLUS loan and are looking to lower your cost of borrowing, refinancing with a better interest rate could offer a solution.

Among the lenders available on the Credible platform, SoFi stands out as one of the best student loan refinancing options for its competitive interest rates and borrower benefits.

Here's what you need to know about the top student loan refinance companies for parent PLUS loans.

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Why refinance a parent PLUS loan?

Parent PLUS loan refinancing is the process of taking out a new, private loan to pay off your federal parent PLUS loan. You then repay your new lender through monthly installments.

The primary goal of refinancing a parent PLUS loan is to get a lower interest rate. Reducing your rate can save you a lot in interest charges over the life of your loan, and it could decrease your monthly payments. And if your child refinances a parent PLUS loan in their name, you can be free of financial responsibility for the loan.

Refinancing also lets you choose a new repayment term, often ranging from five to 15 or 20 years. If you have multiple student loans, you can combine them into one through refinancing.

A downside of refinancing federal student loans is losing access to federal benefits like income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs. If you're pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), for example, refinancing wouldn't be the right move for you.

In this case, you might prefer federal loan consolidation, which lets you combine multiple federal loans into a single loan. However, if you consolidate your parent PLUS loans on or after July 1, 2026, you’ll only have access to the Tiered Standard Plan, which isn’t eligible for PSLF.

“Loan consolidation is combining the loans within the federal system, retaining loan forgiveness options and income-driven repayment plans,” explains Meagan McGuire, certified student loan professional (CSLP) and chief financial planning officer at SLP Wealth. 

However, consolidating federal student loans won't get you a lower interest rate. The interest rate on the new loan is a fixed, weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of a percent.

Best parent PLUS refinance companies of 2026

How to compare parent PLUS loan refinance options

The rates and terms for student loan refinancing vary by lender, so it's best to shop around for the best deal. Many lenders offer prequalification on their websites, which allows you to estimate your potential interest rate without impacting your credit.

Here's what to consider when comparing your options:

• Interest rates: Finding a low interest rate is paramount. Shop around to find the best rates for parent PLUS loan refinancing.
• Fees: Keep an eye out for any fees that could add to your cost of borrowing, such as a loan origination fee.
• Repayment terms: Consider the repayment period and how long you have to repay the loan. A short term will maximize your interest savings, while a longer term will lower your monthly payments.
• Refinance requirements: Some lenders have higher thresholds for credit and income than others. Look for lending criteria that you can meet.
• Borrower protections: Find out if the lender offers any flexibility if you run into financial hardship, such as forbearance and deferment options.
• Reviews and reputation: It's worth reading customer reviews to see if other borrowers would recommend the lender.

Pros and cons of refinancing parent PLUS loans

Refinancing parent PLUS loans can have financial benefits, but it's not the right move for all borrowers. Consider these pros and cons before you refinance your parent loans:

Details on the pros

• Potentially lower interest rate: For the 2026-27 academic year, parent PLUS loans have an interest rate of 9.07%. If you can lower that rate by refinancing, you could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.
• Lower monthly payments: A reduced interest rate could mean more affordable payments from month to month. You may also lower your payments if you opt for a longer repayment term.
• New repayment terms: Most lenders let you choose a repayment term between 5 and 15 or 20 years.
• Potential to transfer the loan to the student: Refinancing could allow you to transfer the loan to your child and get off the hook for the debt. Getting the loan out of your name can reduce your debt-to-income ratio, which could make it easier for you to qualify for a mortgage or other type of loan. 

Details on the cons

• No income-driven repayment: Private lenders generally don't offer income-driven repayment plans. If you keep your parent PLUS loans as they are, you can qualify for the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan, provided you consolidated them before July 1, 2026. This plan sets your monthly payments to 20% of your discretionary income.
• Loss of federal protections: By refinancing, you'll no longer have access to federal protections, such as deferment, forbearance, and loan discharge for special circumstances.
• No options for loan forgiveness: Replacing your parent PLUS loan with a private refinance loan also means you won't be eligible for forgiveness programs, such as PSLF or Teacher Loan Forgiveness. 
• May be difficult to qualify: You'll need to meet a lender's underwriting requirements to get approved for refinancing. Lenders tend to offer the best rates to borrowers with the strongest credit, so if your credit is fair to poor, you'll likely struggle to qualify for a lower rate.

Can you refinance a parent PLUS loan in your child's name?

If you're looking to transfer the parent PLUS loan to the student, refinancing is the only way to do so. Your child will need to meet a lender's requirements for credit, income, debt-to-income ratio, and other criteria. If they do, they can put the loan in their name and assume full responsibility for it.

“If the student has managed their credit responsibly, they may be able to qualify for a private refi on their own, without a cosigner,” says Mark Kantrowitz, author of “How To Appeal for More College Financial Aid.”

Working several years for the same employer will also increase the odds of loan approval, Kantrowitz adds.

If they can't get approved, you could consider cosigning the refinance loan. You'll still share responsibility for the debt, but you'll no longer be the primary holder of the loan.

“If the student has managed their credit responsibly, they may be able to qualify for a private refi on their own, without a cosigner,” says Mark Kantrowitz, author of “How To Appeal for More College Financial Aid.”

Working for the same employer for several years will also increase the odds of loan approval, Kantrowitz adds.

If they can't get approved, you could consider cosigning the refinance loan. You'll still share responsibility for the debt, but you'll no longer be the primary holder of the loan.

How to apply for parent PLUS loan refinancing

If refinancing your parent PLUS loan seems like the right move for you, you'll generally need to follow these steps to apply:

• Check your rates with several lenders: Start by prequalifying for student loan refinancing with a few lenders. This process only takes a few minutes and can help you find the most affordable offer.
• Pick a loan and apply: Compare rates and repayment terms to find your best refinancing offer. Once you've chosen a loan, you can fill out the full application with your personal and financial information. At this point, the lender will run a hard credit inquiry to check your credit, which will temporarily ding your score by a few points.
• Upload the required documentation: As part of the application, you may need to provide some documents, such as pay stubs and student loan statements. If you're refinancing multiple loans, you'll provide the information on all your balances.
• Await loan approval: The lender will review your application and give you an approval decision. This may only take a day or two, though it could take a few weeks for the lender to pay off your parent PLUS loan and issue the new loan in its place. Keep making payments on your parent PLUS loan until your new lender informs you that it has paid off your old loan.

Why you can trust our Credible experts

The Credible editorial team is independent and unbiased. Partners do not influence our editorial content. To help you find the best student loan for your situation, we conduct thorough research and analyze more than 1,000 lender data points. Using data-driven methodologies, we score criteria that are important to you. This allows us to objectively rank student loan lenders and products. To learn more, read our methodology below.

Methodology

To determine the best student loan refinance lenders for parent PLUS loans, Credible collected more than 1,000 data points and evaluated them on several different categories: repayment options, eligibility, interest rates, loan terms, and customer support. We assigned a score out of five stars to each lender based on our findings. Below are the weightings assigned to the general categories for the best student loan companies — which comprise individual criteria that are also weighted:

• Repayment options: 25%
• Eligibility: 25%
• Interest rates: 20%
• Loan terms: 20%
• Customer support: 10%

While the best lender for you will depend on your unique needs and financial circumstances, these findings should help answer your questions and assist you in your search for the best student loan.

Learn more about our methodology.