RISLA Student Loan Refinance Review

Our Rating: A ⓘ (Compare)

RISLA is a good student loan refinance option for nongraduate and in-school borrowers as well as those who want the option of debt relief (such as discretionary forbearance and an income-based repayment plan). RISLA is a nonprofit, state-affiliated educational lender. Applicants who live, work, or have loans from attending school in Rhode Island may be eligible for reduced APRs.

*Lowest rates always include the 0.25% interest reduction for enrolling in auto-pay.
**The highest fixed rate is for in-school deferred refinancing.

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

RISLA Refinance Rates & Fees

The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA)’s fixed rates for traditional student refinance loans are between 6.34% and 8.54%. For in-school deferred student refinance, rates are between 7.30% and 9.24%. Note that the lowest rate includes a 0.25% interest reduction for enrolling in auto-pay.

Additional information about RISLA refinance rates:

• Checking your rate with RISLA will not affect your credit score. They will conduct a soft, not hard, credit inquiry (learn the difference).
• There are no variable rates.

RISLA refinance rates recent history:

Over a two-year period, RISLA increased its lowest and highest available student refinance APRs by an average of 91.6%.

In 2023, RISLA raised its lowest available fixed rate for new standard student refinance loans 9.5% (from 5.29% APR); the highest available fixed rate for new loans went up 6.3% (from 7.99% APR).

In 2022, RISLA raised its lowest and highest fixed rates 96.7% and 38.0%, respectively.

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 RISLA 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

RISLA offers a 0.25% interest reduction to borrowers who enroll in autopay. RISLA partners with some organizations, such as AAA Northeast, to supply special offers to their employees and members.

Finally, borrowers who live, work, or attended school in Rhode Island may be eligible for rate reductions.

RISLA Refinance Eligibility Requirements

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

• Citizenship Requirement: U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.
• Income Requirement: steady employment with a minimum annual household income of $40,000.
• Credit Score Requirement: undisclosed.
• Graduation Requirement: none; part-time students may also qualify for refinancing.
• Location Requirement: available in any U.S. state, though if you live, work, or attend(ed) school in Rhode Island, this may improve your chance to qualify for a lower rate.

Additional restrictions apply for specific individuals and loans.

• No past or current liens or bankruptcies.
• Only loans used to attend nonprofit Title IV institutions are eligible for refinancing.
• Additional undisclosed eligibility requirements apply.

RISLA 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. RISLA’s relief options are some of the industry’s most flexible.

Deferment & Forbearance

RISLA loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2021 are eligible for up to 24 months of forbearance. On loans disbursed before that, forbearance allowance is based on the promissory note.

Though RISLA does not disclose any conditions for deferment due to natural disaster, they were among the first private lenders to announce the suspension of loan payments due to COVID-19.^[1]

See more about RISLA’s deferment and forbearance conditions below.

Additional Options

RISLA may offer other opportunities for relief or contract modification.

• Co-signer release is not an option with a RISLA refinance loan.
• Death / disability discharge is available in the unfortunate circumstance that a borrower passes away or suffers total permanent disability.
• RISLA offers income-based repayment (IBR) plans based on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Poverty Guidelines.
• The minimum monthly payment for an IBR is $10 instead of the standard $50.
• After borrowers make 25 years of qualifying IBR payments, their loans may be forgiven.
• IBR periods are limited to 12 months; in order to extend use of the program, borrowers must reapply each year.

RISLA Reviews, Complaints & Lawsuits

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

RISLA Online Reviews

Below are 3 samples of RISLA 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.).

“I would recommend RISLA for anyone looking to refinance student loans, they were very easy to work with and updated my documents needed section every day. I also received calls updating me on my status which was very helpful for me especially because my family did not have much experience in this.” – Olivia Kelly on Trustpilot, 5/3/2021

“We faithfully paid off the student loans for our son, on time for 12 years. After we paid off the loans we received a letter from RISLA asking if we wanted to refinance another student loan that we had. Long story short, if you are self employed, have a credit score of 782, you will be turned down. Worst experience of our life.” – Marjie on The College Investor, 12/27/2017

“I graduated in 2014, refinanced in 2016. I had 15-year private loans with variable interest rates hitting as high as 11% through [a major financial services conglomerate]. I got fed up with applying to various places (even [the major financial services conglomerate]) and getting denied because I had a high debt-to-income ratio, so I made an account on Credible. This led me to finding RISLA.

Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) was one of the only places willing to refinance me. I think the other one was [a national bank], but I never applied. I think RISLA has different refi standards if you live with your cosigner – a parent in my case. They ask for other things like bank account statements to see if you have enough money to survive a month of unemployment.

Overall the refi application process was much longer than expected because they wanted specific things (60-day payoff letters instead of 30, bank statements of myself and my cosigner, etc.) which was a bit of a pain, but I went from a 15-year variable with high rates to a 10-year at 5.74%.

Of course I recommend them simply because they took me – but they also have a non-federal (yes, as in for private loans) IBR plan where you pay 15% of your discretionary income and will be forgiven after 25 years. I’m sure there are limitations as to when after refi you can activate IBR but I never pursued it since I’m dumping all discretionary income into the loans.” – Squows on reddit, 12/4/2017

More (unfiltered) customer reviews of RISLA are available at TrustPilot.com (4.8 out of 5).

RISLA 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 June 9, 2012, consumers have submitted 42 complaints about Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) to CFPB for an average of one (1) complaint every 103 ¾ days; that is 53.0% lower than the average daily complaint rate among reviewed lenders.

Among the 16 complaints that include detailed narratives, at least two (2) or 12.5% directly reference refinancing.

While RISLA received zero (0) complaints in 2023, consumers filed two (2) complaints about RISLA in 2022, which is equivalent to:

• 56.9% of RISLA’s annual average complaints.
• one (1) complaint for every $14.51 million in that year’s operating revenues.
• one (1) complaint for every 19 full-time employees.
• one (1) complaint for every $36.75 million in student refinance loans originated in that year.

The allegations made in these complaints are unverified, are not necessarily representative of all consumers’ experiences with RISLA, and may contain outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.). Note that a lender with a large customer base is likely also to have a higher number of complaints when compared with smaller lenders. Below we’ve included three (3) of the most recent complaints (as of this writing) in which the consumer consented to sharing their details.

Complaint 5890424
8/17/2022
Georgia

“I sent a letter on XX/XX/22 requesting verification of a late payment showing on my credit report for that account. The company did not send any reply within the 30 days allowed by law. They are now in violation of FCRA for failure to report accurate information.”

Complaint 5664220
6/13/2022
Iowa

“My student loan with XXXX was supposed to be refinanced over a month ago with XXXX. However my XXXX loan is still not paid off and still accruing interest and requiring payments. The new XXXX loan has also been accruing interest and repayment started on XX/XX/22, even though they have not paid off one of the loans they are supposed to be refinancing. I’ve received a lot of changing and conflicting information from both XXXX and XXXX. We’ve been trying to resolve this for the past month without much progress. I had an approximately $ XXXX student loan with XXXX and my wife had an approximately $ XXXX student loan with XXXX. Last month we refinanced and consolidated into XXXX loan with XXXX for about $ XXXX. The XXXX loan was paid off quickly, however the XXXX loan was never paid off. Per XXXX, they disbursed payment to XXXX on XX/XX/22. I called XXXX several times but was always told that no check had been received. XXXX asked me to wait 30 days before requesting a new check. After waiting the 30 days as instructed by XXXX, we called on XX/XX/22 and XXXX told us that XXXX had cashed the check on XX/XX/22. XXXX initially couldn’t find record of this and when they got back to us, they state they sent it back to XXXX on XX/XX/22. First they said it was because it was sent to an incorrect address, then said it was because there was no account number to identify it. We’re now being told that we once again need to give it more time while the check travels back to XXXX. I can’t get consistent information or a clear timeline from either XXXX or XXXX. We are now having to make payments on both the XXXX loan and the new XXXX loan. I raised this concern to XXXX before their first payment was due ( due on XX/XX/22 ) and was told to give it more time. My other concern is that both of these loans are accruing interest. Instead of accruing interest on ~ $ XXXX of loans, we’ve been accruing interest on ~ $ XXXX of loans ( interest on the ~ $ XXXX from XXXX and then again from XXXX ). I don’t understand how XXXX can start requiring repayment when they have not paid off the loan they were supposed to be refinancing. We’ve spoken with XXXX and XXXX several times. I’ve also spoken with XXXX to verify that they didn’t accidentally receive the full ~ $ XXXX. We don’t seem to be getting anywhere yet every day more interest accrues on both loans.”

Complaint 4069057
1/14/2021
Rhode Island

“My debt for Rhode Island Student Loans was update as current even though i already past my statue of limitations. Collections was opened in XX/XX/XXXX, RISLA falsely updated as current in XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXXof XX/XX/XXXXin order to re-age account. I never made a payment nor did i ever contact them so this is fraud.”

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

RISLA Lawsuits

RISLA has not been subject to any major lawsuits in recent years. RISLA is at least partially financed by the State of Rhode Island, however. With taxpayer dollars on the line, such state-funded nonprofit lenders may be aggressive when it comes to pursuing delinquent borrowers.^[2]

Frequently Asked Questions

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

• Is RISLA good for refinancing student loans?
  RISLA may be a good refinance lender for borrowers who are financially stable, have established credit history, and have a student debt balance of at least $7,500.

• Does RISLA have a minimum credit score requirement to refinance student loans?
  RISLA does not disclose a minimum credit score to qualify for student loan refinancing.

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

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

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

• After I get my rates, how long do I have to decide if I want to refinance my student loans?
  Once your refinance application is approved, RISLA will offer you loan terms that will be available to you for 45 days. After 45 days, you will be required to submit a new application if you still wish to refinance with RISLA.

• Is RISLA a bank?
  No, RISLA is not a bank nor is it affiliated with any bank.

• Can I refinance a RISLA loan?
  You can refinance a RISLA student loan or a student loan from another private lender. There is no limit to the number of times a borrower may refinance with RISLA. 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 RISLA?
  Yes, you can refinance some, all, or just one of your qualifying student loans with RISLA. 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 RISLA. 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 RISLA?
  No, spouses may not combine debts at RISLA. A spouse may act as co-signer on a refinance loan, however.

• How long does it take to refinance with RISLA?
  Once you submit your application, you will be notified of your approval status within 1-2 business days. Any loan terms and/or rate offers are valid for 45 days. Upon acceptance, the first payment is due 30 days after disbursement.

• Who services RISLA refinance loans?
  RISLA is its own loan servicer.

• Does RISLA offer a grace period?
  No, RISLA does not offer a grace period. Student refinance loans enter repayment immediately after disbursement.

• Can I get any special rates or discounts with RISLA ?
  RISLA offers a 0.25% interest rate reduction for setting up automatic electronic payments.

• What happens if I file for bankruptcy?
  RISLA does not specify a course of action but does caution “[i]f you file for bankruptcy you may still be required to pay back this loan.”^[3]

• Does RISLA partner with any major student refinance lender marketplaces?
  RISLA partners with Credible as part of its multilender marketplace. INvestEd also advertises RISLA as a featured student refinance lender.

Compare Student Loan Refinance Reviews

Sources

1. WPRI Channel 12 News, RISLA Suspends Some Student Loan Repayment for Those Impacted by COVID-19
2. Boston Student Loan Lawyer, The Student Loan Lenders Most Likely to Sue You
3. Rhode Island Student Loan Authority Application and Solicitation Disclosure RISLA Refinance Loan
4. RISLA, Student Loan Refinancing
5. Rhode Island Student Loan Authority Annual Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2020 And Dated December 31, 2020