Frequently Asked Questions: Student Loan

Student loan refinancing gives you the ability to refinance one or more federal and private student loans into a single loan with new terms, including a new interest rate, monthly payment amount, or repayment length. Even if you have previously consolidated or refinanced your student loans, you may be able to lower your interest rate and/or your monthly payment by refinancing with the Citizens Education Refinance Loan®.

For people with multiple student loans, consolidation can help simplify payments by combining these separate loans into one. When you use an Education Refinance Loan, Citizens will combine these separate loans into a new, single loan. This new loan will have new terms, such as a new monthly payment amount, interest rate and repayment length. Student loan consolidation is for people carrying multiple student loans with separate due dates, payment amounts and interest rates. By combining these many loans into one, you can simplify your loan payments and make it easier to fit student loan repayment into your budget.

Federal loan consolidation is common, but only recently have students been able to consolidate their federal and private loans together. If you need to simplify your student loan payment process, the Citizens Education Refinance Loan® gives you the option of consolidating your federal and private loans together and receive a new term, a new repayment length and a new interest rate.^† Unlike federal loan consolidation where your new interest rate is based on a weighted average of each loan's rate, Citizens will base your new interest rate on the market and your credit profile.

If you have questions about whether student loan consolidation is right for you, speak with one of our Student Lending Specialists.

1. Click Get My Rate to determine the rate you may qualify for
2. Fill out an application for an Education Refinance Loan, which will include personal information as well as details about existing loans in your name or loans you have co-signed.
3. Determine if you would like to apply as an individual or with a co-signer.
4. We will review your and your co-signer’s credit profile and your application to determine eligibility.
5. We will present you with different loan options, including new rates, terms and monthly payment amounts.
6. You choose the option that works best for you. Need additional assistance? Contact our Student Lending specialists at 1-877-405-2262.
7. We will make payment(s) to your current loan servicer(s) to pay-off your student loans.
8. Continue to make on-time payments until you receive confirmation that your loans have been paid-in-full. You will begin repaying your Citizens Education Refinance Loan right away.

    

Now you can find out your interest rate and potential monthly savings in about 2 minutes. Simply click "Get My Rate" and enter in a few pieces of information. Once submitted, you will be presented with your interest rate options, without affecting your credit score. You can then go on to complete the online application.† Your final interest rate and loan terms will be based on the verified information entered in your loan application.

Selecting "Get My Rate" only requires a "soft credit pull" which does not affect your credit score. Submitting a full application results in an inquiry on your credit report.

We know you’re excited to see your rates. So to serve yours up as quickly as possible, we skip the lengthy questionnaires and only ask for the basics:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Birthdate
• Citizenship status
• Social security number
• Monthly rent or mortgage cost
• Highest degree earned
• Employment status and income
• Expected residency completion date (for medical residents/fellows)

To ensure you’re always getting the best rate for your current situation, personalized offers expire 30 days after requested. If your rate expires before you get to lock it in, just get a new one. Remember, rate quotes are always fast and free and never impact your credit score.†

Yes. The primary borrower and co-signer can each request a rate quote individually. Since we will base the final interest rates off the higher of the two credit scores, we suggest you submit a full application.

When you apply for an Education Refinance Loan through Citizens, you can include any student loan debt that was taken out in your name and used to finance education (for example: the Citizens Student Loan™ for both undergraduate and graduate students, the Citizens Student Loan™ for Parents, private student loans from other lenders or federal loans† like Federal Direct PLUS or Stafford loans could be consolidated together). You cannot include any other debt (such as credit card or mortgage debt), even if it was used to pay education expenses. Our application process will review the debt you wish to consolidate to ensure it is eligible to be refinanced. You may even be able to refinance student loan debt you previously consolidated into a single loan.

You can include any student loan debt used for financing your education (for example, Citizens Student Loans, other private student loans from other lenders, or your federal loans^† like Federal Direct PLUS or Stafford loans). You cannot include any other debt (for example, credit card or mortgage), even if it was used to pay education expenses. Other non-collegiate loans are also ineligible, such as primary school (K-12) and college prep loans.

You may also be able to refinance your student loan debts, even if you previously consolidated them into a single loan.

Our application has a list of the most common loan servicers; however, you may submit loans for which the servicer is not on our list. When we review your application, we will review whether loans from that servicer may be refinanced.

Minimum: $10,000

• Maximum:
• $300,000 (Bachelor’s degree)
• $500,000 (Graduate degree))
• $750,000 (Professional degree).)

• You cannot be currently enrolled in school, unless you have already completed your undergraduate studies. If you are currently enrolled in school and are seeking additional financing, please consider the Citizens Student Loan.
• You must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or resident alien with a valid U.S. Social Security Number, residing in the United States with student loans from a domestic or foreign school being serviced by accredited/licensed U.S. based servicers or servicers in U.S. territories. Resident aliens must apply with a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• You must have at least $10,000 in student loans to refinance.
• Applicants with a bachelor's degree or higher.

For more information about eligibility requirements, speak to a Student Lending Specialist.

There are a lot of potential benefits to refinancing your student loans, like reducing your monthly payment, lowering your interest rate or getting out of debt faster. Check your refi rate to see how much you could save, or give us a call at (888) 333-0128 to discuss your loans and goals and create a plan that’s right for both.

Borrowers may apply for co-signer release after making 36 consecutive on-time payments of principal and interest. When applying for co-signer release, a credit review will be performed to ensure the borrower meets certain credit and eligibility guidelines for holding the loan on their own. For the purpose of co-signer release, on-time payments are defined as being made within 15 days of their due date. Borrowers who use deferment or forbearance will need to make 36 consecutive on time payments after reentering repayment to qualify for release (excluding emergency Covid forbearance). Borrowers must complete an application for release and provide income verification documents as part of the review. Those interested can request an application for release by calling our trusted servicing partner, Firstmark Services, at 866-259-3767.

When we review your application and credit profile, we’re looking for things that show us you’re able to repay your loan. Generally, those include a reasonably strong credit history and annual income of at least $24,000. Got both? Great! You’re in good shape.

Missing one (or both)? Consider applying with a cosigner^†. Since a cosigner agrees to pay your loan if you can’t – and often has a more established credit history – adding one may help you get approved and even get a better interest rate.

Fixed interest rates stay the same for the length of your loan, so you’ll always have the same monthly payments – but they tend to cost more than variable interest rates.

Variable interest rates go up and down, so your monthly payment will too. That means less predictability, but also potential savings: if it dips lower than a fixed interest rate, you’ll pocket the difference.

Both the borrower and co-signer may need to submit the following:

• Social Security number (or Alien ID number for permanent resident)
• Gross monthly income
• Employer name, phone number, and length of employment (if applicable)
• Monthly rent or mortgage payment (if applicable)
• The current lender/servicer of your existing student loans, full account number of those loans, current loan balances, your monthly payment, the next payment due date, and the interest rate and type. Your most recent monthly billing statement will have all of this information.

1. Application - Fill out an application for a Citizens Education Refinance Loan which will include personal information as well as details about your existing student loans. Determine if you would like to apply as an individual or with a co-signer.
2. Decision - We will validate your (and your co-signer’s, if applicable) credit profile and application to determine eligibility.
3. Options - If approved, we will present you with different loan options, including new fixed or variable interest rates, repayment terms and monthly payment amounts.
4. Term Selection - You (and your co-signer, if applicable) will be required to sign your application and promissory note.
5. Old Loans Paid Off - Before we deliver your refinance loan proceeds to your previous lender(s), we will provide to you a Final Disclosure which will confirm the terms of the loan and provide you a Right to Cancel without penalty for a minimum period of 3 business days, along with instructions on how to do so. Then, we will make payment(s) to your current loan servicer(s) to pay-off your student loans.
6. New Loan Begins - Continue to make on-time payments until you receive confirmation that your loans have been paid-in-full. You will begin repaying your Citizens Education Refinance Loan right away.

Education Refinance Loan borrowers and co-signers must be US citizens or permanent residents with valid Social Security numbers.

• US citizen: a copy of your Social Security card, your birth certificate, or your passport.
• Permanent resident: proof of residency in the form of your current U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I 551 (Resident Alien Card). If you do not have yours available, a temporary WSCIS Form I 551, a passport stamped "Temporary 551," or Form I90 (Application to Replace Alien Registration Card) may be used

When we review your application, we try to verify both your identity and the income you report on your application through an automated process. If we are unable to verify the information you provide on our own, we will ask you for documents to help us make our decision. All applicants for the Education Refinance Loan will be asked to provide a recent billing statement for each loan they list to refinance. This will help us finalize both the amount to refinance and the address to send payments to your prior lenders.

Refinancing loans can take one to two billing cycles, so you should continue making your regularly scheduled payments until you receive your first billing statement from us. Your prior lenders will be able to confirm at that time that your prior student loans have been paid in full and that no further payments are required. Depending on when your prior lender credits our payment to your prior loans, the amount you owe could change before our payment is credited, leaving you with a small balance with your prior lenders. If you have a remaining balance with a lender after our payoff has been processed, you would need to make payments until the loan is paid in full to avoid late fees or other collection efforts by your prior lenders. Citizens asks lenders to return overages to us so that we can apply them as a principal credit to your account; however, your prior lenders may have different policies related to overpayments so you should reach out to those lenders if you have questions.

Principal and interest payments will begin within 21 to 50 days after your loans have been refinanced. We will notify you in advance so that you have plenty of time to make your first payment on time.

No, there is no prepayment penalty or any other penalty for paying more than the minimum monthly payment or for paying off the entire loan early.

Goodness, no – our goal is to help save you money. There are no application, origination, pre-payment or disbursement fees associated with our Education Refinance Loan.

You can save up to 0.50%^† off our already low interest rates just for having another Citizens account (0.25% discount) and setting up automatic payments on your loan (0.25% discount, which kicks in after your first loan payment). Has saving ever been this easy?

We got you, doc! Our Education Refinance Loan for medical residents and fellows fixes loan payments at just $100 per month^† during your program and has only three requirements:

1. You have over $10,000 in private or federal student loan debt.
2. You have graduated from medical school and are matched to an MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DPM, VMD, PharmD or OD residency or fellowship program at the time of application.
3. You meet our credit criteria.

Any interest accrued over the fixed $100 monthly payments during your residency will capitalize at the end of your residency and grace period. If the $100 monthly payment exceeds the interest you’ve accrued for the month, we will apply the remainder to your principal.

Full payments of principal and interest begin six months after your residency completion date or 4.5 years after loan disbursement, whichever comes first.