Earnest Student Loan Refinance Review

Our Rating: C+ ⓘ (Compare)

Refinancing student loans with Earnest may benefit borrowers who don’t necessarily have high credit scores but are otherwise in good financial standing. A subsidiary of Navient, Earnest uses an algorithmic model to approve borrower rates and terms. However, the Earnest website includes multiple inconsistencies regarding eligibility requirements; in some cases, these apparently conflicting claims appear on the same page and within paragraphs of each other.

*Lowest rates always include the 0.25% interest reduction for enrolling in auto-pay.
†The highest variable rate cap is for loans with terms exceeding 15 years. The rate cap for 11- to 15-year loans is 9.95%, while loan terms of 10 years or less are capped at 8.95%.

Skip to: Rates & Fees | Eligibility Requirements | Repayment Options | Consumer Reviews & Complaints | FAQ

Earnest Refinance Rates & Fees

Earnest Operations LLC offers fixed and variable rates for student loan refinancing. For borrowers with approved advanced and professional degrees who refinance more than $100,000 may qualify for fixed rates as low as 4.35% and variable rates as low as 5.74%.

Note that lowest rates always include a 0.25% interest rate reduction for enrollment in automatic payments.

Additional information about Earnest refinance rates:

• Checking your rate with Earnest will not affect your credit score. They will conduct a soft, not hard, credit inquiry (learn the difference).
• Earnest does offer a discount for setting up auto-pay: 0.25% interest rate reduction.
• Variable rates are based on the 30-day SOFR (5.15% as of this writing) as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the twenty-fifth day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month.
• Variable rates are capped at 11.95% for loans with terms exceeding 15 years. The rate cap for 11- to 15-year loans is 9.95%, while loan terms of 10 years or less are capped at 8.95%.
• Earnest services are unavailable in Nevada and may or may not be available in Kentucky (the company web site makes conflicting statements).
• Variable rates are unavailable in Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.
• Applicants may set their term limit for any period between 5 and 20 years down to the month.

Earnest refinance rate recent history

Over a two-year period (2022-2024), Earnest increased its lowest and highest available APRs by an average of 117%.

In 2023, Earnest raised its lowest available fixed rate for new loans 18.2% (from 4.24% APR) while its highest available fixed rate went up 8.1% (from 9.24% APR). The lowest variable rate was 50.1% higher (from 3.49% APR) than it was at the end of 2022, and the highest variable rate was up 17.0% (from 8.24% APR).

In 2022, Earnest raised its lowest and highest available fixed rates 79.9% and 53.0%, respectively; its lowest and highest variable rates increased 112.2% and 45.0%.

Additional Fees

Beyond interest rates, there are a number of fees a refinance lender may charge up-front or during the loan servicing period. Below is a list of these fees that Earnest does or does not charge.

1. Application fee – fee to apply for rates & approval.
2. Loan origination fee – fee to create the new loan.
3. Disbursement fee – fee for distributing funds to lenders to pay off loans that have been refinanced.
4. Prepayment penalty – fee for making extra payments to reduce a refinance loan balance or pay it off early.
5. Late payment fee – fee for making a late payment.
6. Returned payment fee – fee for failed payments due to insufficient funds, also known as a “bounced check”.
7. Collection fee – fee for collection activity on a defaulted debt.

Current Promotions & Offers

Earnest offers a 0.25% interest rate reduction with enrollment in automatic payments.

Through Earnest’s referral program, referring and referred borrowers always receive a $200 bonus each for every new referral who refinances their student loans with Earnest.

Earnest Refinance Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for refinancing with Earnest, all borrowers must meet the criteria below.

• Citizenship Requirement: U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.
• Income Requirement: income required, no minimum specified.
• Credit Score Requirement: unclear; the lowest minimum score listed on the website is 665.
• Graduation Requirement: associate’s degree or higher -OR- a completed degree by the end of the current semester -OR- student loans in repayment while enrolled less than half-time. Borrowers with debt from an incomplete degree from a not-for-profit school may be eligible for refinancing if their last date of attendance was over six (6) years prior and their current credit score is 700+.
• Location Requirement: District of Columbia or one of 49 U.S. states (excluding Nevada).

Additional restrictions apply for specific individuals and loans.

• Earnest stipulates that borrowers must be current on rent or mortgage payments.
• Refinancing requires no history of bankruptcy or accounts recently in collection.
• Earnest discloses the following factors for financial approval:
  • Enough savings to cover at least two months of normal expenses, including housing.
  • Increasing bank account balances.
  • No large amounts of non-student, non-mortgage debt (e.g. credit cards, personal loans).
  • History of history of making payments on time.
  • No history of regular charges for late, overdraft, or insufficient funds fees.

Earnest Student Loan Repayment Options

Lenders vary greatly on the benefits and options provided to borrowers during the loan servicing period. Additionally, benefits may only be available on a case-by-case basis. Earnest offers some relief options.

Deferment & Forbearance

Earnest does have some options for deferring payments. Note that refinance loans in deferment always continue to accrue interest. See Earnest’s conditions for deferment and forbearance below.

Additional Options

Earnest may offer other opportunities for relief or contract modification.

• Unpaid maternity/paternity leave may be considered a temporary hardship for the purposes of forbearance.
• Borrowers may apply to skip one payment every 12 months [after making a minimum of six (6) months of consecutive, on-time payments].
• Death / disability discharge is available in the unfortunate circumstance that a borrower passes away or suffers total permanent disability.
• Co-signer release is unavailable.

Earnest Reviews, Complaints & Lawsuits

Beyond our own findings, our team also collected the most genuinely insightful customer experiences we could find, including any instances of legal action against the company in which the details became public.

Earnest Online Reviews

Below are 3 samples of Earnest customer reviews we found on public forums, included here for their value as unedited, uncensored, and unsolicited user experiences. Note that these reviews are unverified, may include inaccuracies, and may provide outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.).

“About one year ago I refinanced multiple student loans with Earnest and got a consolidated loan at a rate over 35% lower than the average of my prior loans. I’ve made aggressive payments towards the loan monthly, and have been nothing but happy and satisfied with my choice to use the company.

Other than the website, nothing else has changed in my opinion since Navient came along. Earnest maintains its own brand. Customer service is exactly the same – responsive and quick.” – RPG_are_my_initials on reddit, 9/22/2019

“I have Earnest, who cares if their customer service is not as excellent as it used to be? Get the best rate, set auto-pay, forget it. I haven’t had any issue before or after the Navient takeover.” – Dreamgiver on White Coat Investor, 6/14/2019

“I used Earnest a year ago to refinance. I chose variable instead of fixed, but had smaller loans. Earnest at the time offered the chance to change from variable to fixed at any time during repayment. The process was a breeze, and an Earnest employee sent me a text with his personal contact info in case I had any questions. I’ve seen the rate tick up from low 2’s to mid/upper 2’s (about .5% total, in line with short term rate rises). I was and am still very satisfied with them.” – tanstaafl on Bogleheads.org, 4/26/2017

More (unfiltered) customer reviews of Earnest are available at TrustPilot.com (4.7 out of 5). Earnest has a profile on ConsumersAdvocate.org (4.7 out of 5).

Earnest Consumer Complaints

As consumer finance companies, student loan refinancing lenders fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency. As part of its mission, the CFPB allows consumers to log official complaints. These complaints are publicly available on the CFPB official website.

Since August 7, 2015, consumers have submitted 144 complaints about Earnest, Inc. to the CFPB for an average of one (1) complaint every 22 days or so, which is more than twice as fast as the average daily complaint rate among reviewed lenders. Among the 93 complaints that include narratives, 29 (31.2%) specifically reference student loan refinancing.

In 2023, Earnest received 25 consumer complaints, which is equivalent to:

• a 51.4% increase in the number of complaints compared to an average year.
• one (1) complaint for every $2.161 million in corporate revenue.
• one (1) complaint for every 13 employees.

The allegations made in these complaints are unverified, are not necessarily representative of all consumers’ experiences with Earnest, and may contain outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.). Note that a lender with a large customer base is likely to have a higher number of complaints when compared with smaller lenders.

Below we’ve included 3 of the most recent complaints (as of this writing) in which the consumer consented to share their details and explicitly refer to refinancing.

Complaint 7877574
11/20/2023
Ohio

“Attempted to refinance my daughter ‘s XXXX school loans ( which I co-signed for ) with Earnest into one loan to make it clearer & easier for her to pay back. Same total amount, similar interest rates, same payment amount. I am on XXXX due to XXXX caused by military service and 100 % of my income comes from the gov’t ( VA and XXXX ). They went back a number of years somehow and pulled the lowest credit score they could find of XXXX from XX/XX/2022 ( which happened to be the month following a 2-week long XXXX vacation I took my XXXX kids on and I immediately paid off that following month ) and claimed they were concerned my score was too low and that I wouldn’t be able to make payments if I got sick, injured, or became unemployed- which isn’t even applicable to me. I believe this was willful discrimination because I am a XXXX veteran on public assistance.”

Complaint 7770218
10/28/2023
Pennsylvania

“I loved Earnest at first when I refinanced and consolidated my private student loans. The rate was good and experience fine. The bad parts come after my in-school ( for grad school ) deferment. My deferment extension was denied ( due to being in a business PhD and not law or medical school ). This should tell you XXXX things : XXXX ) the company has very poor risk management ( they are not able to deal with risk on a more granular level than if you will be a doctor or lawyer – making no use of publicly-available job and salary data ) and XXXX ) the customer service agents are inept ( a representative told me on the phone not to worry about the extension- which was then denied by a different person ). The above is now in the past- the company has responded ( poorly ), but they have done so. Here is where this complaint begins : When repayment began, the roughly {$260.00} minimum payment the representative quoted on the phone in XXXX ( I have a follow-up email from her, which doesn’t record the amount, that was sent on XX/XX/XXXX – the call should be recorded ) when we discussed what the worst case scenario of an extension application would be ) had become nearly {$400.00} by XXXX. How could she be so wrong? How could the company miss the mark that much, by not only encouraging me not plan for much given the chance of an extension and then being off my nearly double? Then the worst part : I received a paper bill indicating {$0.00} due by XX/XX/XXXX. When I log into my account to see why repayment hadn’t begun, I notice the {$380.00} payment required by XX/XX/XXXX. This is trickery in its clearest form and a very clear effort to both XXXX ) rack up fees and XXXX ) extend the length of the loan and interest-bearing period. I received the paper bill on XX/XX/XXXX with the due date of XX/XX/XXXX.”

Complaint 6884408
4/24/2023
Michigan

“XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I was able to refinance it from a loan that I had from XXXX and XXXX XXXX into one loan now under earnest. Initially, the monthly cost of my student loan payments took up more than 50 % of my monthly income. I struggled for months to pay both rent, to get food, and pay off my student loan. The student loan bill is the largest out of all of these. I was never able to find a job with my XXXX XXXX XXXX that pays a comparable salary to what it cost to get the degree. I would have never gone to school for this degree if I knew that the job market had no jobs that would compensate me for my specific education. Now every single month, even since refinancing with Earnest I barely get by. Now I am about to have a baby and I have no idea what I am going to do in order to feed my family, this loan takes up an unreasonable amount of my income and they are not willing to work with me on lowering the payment without me being in debt for the rest of my life. Please, I need help. If something else doesn’t happen soon I fear for my family. I worry I am going to have to raise a child homeless and couch surfing because of the unreasonable price of my degree.”

For a full list of complaints made against Earnest in the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database, click here.

Earnest Lawsuits

Earnest LLC and its sister company NaviRefi have not been implicated in ongoing lawsuits against their parent company, Navient Corporation, alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.^[1][2][3] Note that while this information is updated regularly, ongoing legal action is subject to change.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the most common questions consumers have about student loan refinancing with Earnest.

• Is Earnest good for refinancing student loans?
  Earnest’s student refinance loans may benefit student borrowers who don’t necessarily have high credit scores but are otherwise in good financial standing.

• Does Earnest have a minimum credit score requirement?
  Earnest claims multiple minimum credit scores for refinancing student loans, including different requirements for borrowers without degrees. With a completed degree, 665 is the lowest minimum credit score listed on the company website. Borrowers who did not complete the program they paid for using the student loans to be refinanced must have a credit score of at least 700 to qualify.

• Are Earnest loans federal?
  Earnest loans are not federal. Earnest has no affiliation with the federal government or the U.S. Department of Education.

• Does Earnest charge a prepayment penalty?
  There are no penalties for early payments or for repaying a loan in full before its term is over.

• Does checking your rates with Earnest hurt your credit score?
  For their prequalification process, Earnest performs a soft credit check, which will not hurt your credit score. If you proceed with an application, however, Earnest will perform a hard credit check that may affect your credit score.

• Is Earnest a bank?
  Earnest is not a bank nor is it affiliated with any bank. Earnest was founded as a fintech company and now operates as its own brand under the Navient Corporation.

• Can I refinance an Earnest loan?
  You can refinance an Earnest student loan or a student loan from another private lender. There is no limit to the number of times a borrower may refinance with Earnest. Note, however, that every new line of credit requires a hard credit check that may affect your FICO score.

• Can I refinance just some of my loans with Earnest?
  Yes, you can refinance some, all, or just one of your qualifying student loans with Earnest. You may choose to refinance your private loans only or refinance private and federal loans together.

• Can I refinance loans that have already been refinanced?
  Yes, you can refinance loans as many times as you want with Earnest. Note that each time you refinance, you will have to submit a new application; every application requires a hard credit check that may affect your credit score.

• Can my spouse and I refinance our loans together with Earnest?
  No, Earnest only refinances loans in the original borrower’s name.

• How long does it take to refinance with Earnest?
  Earnest does not disclose an average timeline for refinancing.

• Who services Earnest refinance loans?
  Earnest does not sell its loans to other financial institutions or servicers.

• Does Earnest offer a grace period?
  While Earnest does not offer a grace period, they may honor an existing grace period for up to nine (9) months; borrowers should submit a Grade Period Match Request Form (available on the Earnest website).

• How often do variable rates change?
  Earnest’s variable rates change no more than once per month based on the 30-day SOFR as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the 25^th day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month.

• Can I get any special rates or discounts with Earnest?
  Earnest offers a standard 0.25% rate reduction to borrowers who set up auto-pay.

• What happens if I file for bankruptcy?
  If you file for bankruptcy, you may still be required to repay your Earnest student refinance loan.

• Does Earnest partner with any major student refinance lender marketplaces?
  Earnest partners with Purefy as part of its multilender marketplace. Sparrow also list Earnest as featured lenders.

Compare Student Loan Refinance Reviews

Sources

1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Sues Nation’s Largest Student Loan Company Navient for Failing Borrowers at Every Stage of Repayment
2. Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School Project on Predatory Student Lending, VILLALBA V. NAVIENT
3. NavientClassAction.com, Navient Class Action Information
4. Earnest, Eligibility Guide
5. Earnest, Earnest Operations LLC Refinance Education Loan Variable Rate Application & Solicitation Disclosure
6. CFPB, Consumer Complaint Database
7. Dun & Bradstreet, Business Directory: Earnest LLC
8. Better Business Bureau, Search Businesses and Charities