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May

2019

Marrying Someone With Student Loans

By SoFi | Family Finances, Life & Career, Student Loans, student_loan | No Comments

Getting married is a momentous occasion—you’re choosing to legally commit to your partner in sickness and in health. And that’s something to celebrate. But before you say “I do,” it is important to understand how your student loan obligations might change after your big day.

After all, you’re ready to share your life, but do you have to share your student loans? Here are five things to know about student loans and marriage.

Open and Honest Communication is Key

Let’s be real for a second: money is stressful. In fact, money is one of the most common topics of relationship stress. Whether you’re arguing about high student loan payments or how much you want to spend on eating out every month, money can cause relationship problems.

There is good news, though: couples who talk openly about money daily or weekly are more likely to have strong marriages. That means that learning how to talk about money before you get married is one great way to create a strong relationship from the get-go, especially if you’re marrying someone with student loan debt, or have student loan debt yourself.

In addition to figuring out your money and budgeting style, it can be helpful to hash out the basics before your marital bliss is interrupted by your next student loan bill. For starters, it may be helpful to discuss exactly how much each of you owe on your student loans. It is important that you both understand exactly how much is owed so you can plan for repayment together.

Once you’ve got the hard numbers down, it may also be helpful to share what type of current student loan repayment plan you are on, and what your repayment priorities are. After all, if your partner wants to pay off their law school debt right away but you’re happy on an income-driven repayment plan as a school teacher, it is important that you have a plan for navigating potential disagreements.

While every relationship is different, all relationships will require decision-making about money. Learning to talk about money now can help set you up for success down the road.

Who is Responsible For Repayment?

You’re not automatically on the hook for your spouse’s loans. If you or your spouse took our student loans prior to your marriage, you likely won’t be responsible for those loans if your spouse stops paying.

Of course, if you or your spouse takes on new loans while you’re married and you live in a community property state, you may end up responsible for a portion of that debt.

The law is complicated, so if you’re worried about dividing up your assets before you get married, it is always good to talk to a lawyer. Many young couples are even now considering pre-nups to protect themselves and set up expectations in advance.

Will My Monthly Payments Change?

So then when it comes to student loans, marriage doesn’t change anything? Not so fast. One often-overlooked aspect of marriage is that it can change your income—and this matters for many reasons, including determining your monthly income-driven loan payments.

For example, if you’re on a repayment plan that uses your household income to determine your monthly payment, and are married and filing jointly, your lender will take into account both you and your spouse’s income, which could lead to higher monthly payments.

Likewise, you may miss out on the student loan interest deduction when it comes time to file your taxes. P.S., talking to an accountant or tax attorney when when it comes to all things taxes and student loans could be a smart idea. When in doubt, definitely speak with a licensed professional.

Thinking About Refinancing Your Loans with Your Spouse

Just because your student debt doesn’t automatically become a joint obligation the moment you say “I do” doesn’t mean you can’t combine your debt and focus on paying it off together.

Many couples choose to combine their student loan debt through refinancing so they can pay off one bill together, rather than juggling multiple debt payments.

Student loan debt and marriage can be stressful, and student loan refinancing allows you to combine multiple loans into one (potentially with a lower interest rate).

Of course, refinancing isn’t for everyone. If you or your spouse is planning on taking advantage of income-driven repayment or other federal repayment programs, joint refinancing with a private company could make you ineligible.

It’s important to start your marriage off on a strong foot by making sure that you and your partner can talk honestly about money. Together, you can navigate anything—including student loan debt.

Learn more about refinancing your student loans with SoFi.

Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Student Loan Refinance
If you are a federal student loan borrower, you should consider all of your repayment opportunities including the opportunity to refinance your student loan debt at a lower APR or to extend your term to achieve a lower monthly payment. Please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income-based repayment plans or extended repayment plans.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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May

2019

Should You Start Paying Off Student Loans Before Graduation?

By SoFi | Debt Payoff, Student Loans, student_loan | No Comments

Like getting a case of the Mondays—but with much higher stakes—the specter of looming student loan debt can be a real buzz kill. As a result, you may be wondering whether it makes sense to start paying off that debt while you’re still in school. Here’s a look at whether it’s possible to pay off loans early and the pros and cons of doing so.

Prepaying Student Loans

You can prepay federal loans and some private student loans without facing penalties. That means that you can direct money toward paying down the principal of your loan at any time, likely without facing extra fees.

Federal student loans typically become due when you graduate after a grace period of six months. This grace period can be extended to three and a half years for active duty military members.

The Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students doesn’t have a grace period and the Perkins loan grace period might vary from school to school.

Private loans might also have a grace period, though these vary depending on the terms and conditions of your loan. You may choose to get a head start on paying off your debt and start making loans payments before you graduate.

Beyond gaining some peace of mind, prepayment may have other benefits. As you pay down your principal you’ll be reducing the amount of money you owe in future interest payments, saving you money over the life of the loan.

Some loans may accrue interest while you’re in school, and these are worth targeting first. Prioritize paying down loans with the highest interest rates. As you pay these off, focus on the next highest rate.

Direct Subsidized Loans do not accrue interest while you’re in school at least half-time. If you pay down the balance while you’re in school, you’ll only be paying off the amount borrowed, essentially securing an interest-free loan for yourself.

Contact your lender when you want to make a prepayment. When you do, include a note that you want the prepayment to go toward paying off the principal of your loan. Otherwise, your lender may treat your payments as though you’re paying your first installment.

But here’s the good news: Federal student loans and private student loans don’t come with prepayment penalties . So you can proceed with paying off your student loans early without incurring prepayment penalty fees.

Other Ways to Manage Your Debt

If your cooktop ramen budget leaves you with little room to prepay your college loans, don’t despair. There are other ways you can make your loans more manageable.

If you carry federal student loans, one option is student loan consolidation, which allows you to bundle your loans through the Direct Consolidation program. This strategy may leave you with a lower rate on your new loan.

The government sets your new rate as a weighted average of all your current loans’ interest rates. So, in some cases, your new rate may actually be higher than your previous lowest rate.

Direct Consolidation loans may qualify you for student loan forgiveness or income-based repayment plans. This can be particularly useful if you plan on going into a field that qualifies for student loan forgiveness such as jobs in the government or some nonprofit sectors.

One note, however: Federal student loan consolidation lets you consolidate federal loans, but doesn’t allow you to consolidate your private loans.

Refinancing Through a Private Lender

If you have a mix of federal and private loans, you may consider refinancing your student loans through a private lender. If this sounds like an option for you, you’ll want to look into a lender that can help you lower your interest rate.

Paying a lower interest rate can save you money in the long term. And if you choose to keep your monthly payment the same, you may even pay off your loans earlier than you would with your original loan.

You can refinance your private loans and some lenders allow you to bundle both federal and private loans. However, be aware that once you’ve refinanced federal and private loans together, you can’t undo the consolidation.

Federal loans that are consolidated in this way are no longer eligible for consolidation under the Direct Consolidation Loan program and, therefore, may lose the potential for loan forgiveness and income base repayment options down the road.

Learn how refinancing with SoFi may make your loan payments more manageable.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Student Loan Refinance
If you are a federal student loan borrower, you should consider all of your repayment opportunities including the opportunity to refinance your student loan debt at a lower APR or to extend your term to achieve a lower monthly payment. Please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income-based repayment plans or extended repayment plans.

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May

2019

Ways to Pay for Grad School Without Using Loans

By SoFi | Student Loans, student_loan | No Comments

When you first take out student loans after graduating high school, it’s hard to truly feel the weight of that debt. You’re young and looking forward to the best years of your life. It’s not until you’ve finished your undergraduate degree, that you begin to realize just how much money you actually owe.

If you’re pursuing a graduate degree you may feel motivated to avoid taking out additional loans to finance your education. Perhaps your goal is to finish your Master’s degree without borrowing a single penny.

It won’t happen easily, and you might need to sacrifice your comfort and free time to make it happen, but people do it every year. These tips could help you become one of them.

Become an In-State Resident

If you’re applying for graduate school, after taking a few years off to work you might be surprised to find how costs have changed since your undergraduate days. Tuition has been rising for decades, and a bachelor’s degree now costs two-and-a-half times what it did in 1988 after adjusting for inflation.

Graduate students interested in a public university can save tens of thousands of dollars by becoming in-state residents. As just one example, at UCLA graduate students who qualify for in-state tuition pay $16,847 a year while out-of-state students pay almost double the cost—$31,949.

Each state has different requirements for determining residency, so if you are planning on relocating to attend grad school be sure to look into the requirements for the state the school you are planning to attend.

Certain states require only one year of full-time residency before you can qualify for in-state tuition, while others require three years. During that time, you can work as much as possible to save money for graduate school.

Apply for Work-Study

Work-study is a type of financial aid available to students who qualify based on their financial need. You can apply for the program when you fill out your FAFSA form. If you qualify for work-study it will be part of your financial aid award.

After you receive your work-study award you’ll still have to find a job that qualifies. Many schools have online databases where you can look for and apply to jobs.

Typically, financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first served basis, so the earlier you file your FAFSA the better chance you’ll have of securing work-study as a part of your award.

Become an RA

You probably remember your undergrad Resident Advisor (RA). They were the ones who helped you get settled into your dorm room, showed you how to get to the nearest dining hall and yelled at you for breaking quiet hours.

RAs may be under-appreciated, but they’re compensated handsomely for their duties. Students are typically compensated for a portion or all of their room and board. Some schools even include a meal plan and sometimes even reduced tuition or a stipend.

The compensation you receive will depend on the school you are attending, so check with your residential life office to see what the current RA salary is at your school.

While there are plenty of perks to being an RA, don’t underestimate the responsibility that comes with the position. It can be a time-intensive position, requiring round-the-clock supervision.

Still, the perks of being an RA may be measured in saving money each year. By having a free place to live and a free meal plan, you can save and eat a diet that doesn’t just consist of Ramen and stale pizza. RAs rarely have to share a room, so you’ll also have more privacy than you would in an apartment.

Because RAs receive so many benefits, competition for the job can be fierce and selective. Polish your resume and hone your interview skills before applying. The difference between working as an RA and having to take out loans for rent could affect your life for years to come.

Apply for Grants and Scholarships

Like undergraduates, grad students have to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to qualify for federal grants. Many universities use FAFSA information to determine their own financial aid, so applying for it is mandatory.

The average graduate student earned $9,290 in grants during the 2016-2017 academic year. Grants and scholarships are a great source of financing for graduate school because they don’t need to be repaid.

Grants are available from both the federal and state governments, as well as from the university itself. Some companies provide their own grants or scholarships, and many private organizations sponsor grants.

It never hurts to apply for a grant or scholarship, no matter how small it might seem. Think of it this way—every dollar received is one less dollar you need to borrow or earn.

Find a TA Position

If you’re a graduate student, you can often find a position as a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant for a professor. The position will be related to your undergrad or graduate studies and often requires grading papers, conducting research, organizing labs or prepping for class. You probably had several TAs during your undergraduate classes and didn’t even realize they were students too.

TAs can be paid with a stipend or through reduced tuition depending on which school you attend. Not only can the job help you to potentially avoid student loans, but it also gives you networking experience with people in your field.

The professor you work with can recommend you for a job, bring you to conferences, and serve as a reference.

Being a TA may help boost your resume, especially if you apply for a Ph.D. program or want to be a professor someday. According to PayScale.com, the average TA earns $12.17 an hour, or about $1,000 a month before taxes.

Similarly to a job as an RA, securing a TA position can be competitive. Apply early and get to know the professors who will make the decisions.

Refinance Your Undergrad Loans

If you currently have loans from your undergraduate program, you can refinance them to get a lower monthly payment. That will free up more money to put towards grad school.

Refinancing your student loans at a lower interest rate can also help you pay less interest over the loan’s lifetime. That may not seem like such a big deal now, but you’ll be thankful when you’re saving up for a down payment on your first house.

Switching to a lower monthly payment gives you more flexibility in your budget, which is perfect for a time when money is tight. Once you finish grad school, you can start making extra payments and repay your loans ahead of schedule.

Paying for grad school without student loans is possible, but only if you plan ahead, apply for every opportunity and make decisions carefully. Many professions don’t care where you went to grad school, only that you have a master’s degree. Pick an affordable university and you’ll never regret your decision to go back to school.

Ready to make the most of your student loan debt? Refinancing could mean a lower interest rate and more money in your pocket over the life of the loan. See what your new rate could be when you refinance with SoFi in just a few minutes.

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May

2019

Return on Education: How Graduate Degrees Impact Lifetime Earnings

By SoFi | Fresh Out of School, Life & Career, Student Loans, student_loan | No Comments

That master’s degree in art history may help you understand cubism, but is it going to help you buy a Picasso one day? While material gain is not the only driving factor in most people’s decision to pursue higher education, it is worth considering, especially as more Americans become conscious of graduating with large outstanding student loan debt.

Lifetime Earnings by Education

When you’re considering graduate school, you have a lot to think about, including which programs best fit your interests, where the school is located, how much it costs, and how you’ll pay for it. The price of some grad programs can be dizzying: One year at Harvard Business School may set you back over $109,000.

A potentially hefty price tag means you have to consider whether a degree is worth the cost, especially if you have to take out student loans to help you get there. One way to help you do this is to examine the ratio of the cost of obtaining a new degree relative to the income it will help you generate once you graduate.

This measure is very much like return on investment—the ratio between net profit and cost from an investment of resources.

Your time and tuition can be considered your investment resources, and your future income is your profit. For the purposes of this article, we’ll call this measure a return on education, or your ROEd. And of course, your ROEd depends on how much of a boost you get by going for a graduate degree and how much money you put into securing the degree.

So what graduate degrees are yielding students a high ROEd? Unfortunately, a grad degree in the humanities may provide a relatively small boost in income.The average salary for a graduate with an MA in the
humanities is $68,000. Other degrees—especially professional degrees like JDs, MDs, and MBAs—can provide a significant boost to your post graduation prospects. Stanford University Class of 2018 MBA grads have an average starting salary and bonuses of nearly $174,000, the highest in the country.

It’s clear that in some cases a graduate degree can have a huge impact on your lifetime earning potential, offering a high ROEd. Yet, this isn’t always the case, and with a low ROEd, you’ll want to weigh the benefits of a degree carefully.

Weighing a Graduate Degree

Your ROEd and other factors can help you decide whether a graduate program is worth it before you apply to graduate school.

Determining need: Determine whether or not you need a graduate degree to advance in your field. If you want to go into academia, you’ll likely need a PhD. However, if you have an undergrad engineering degree, you may not need more school to rise through the ranks of your company.

Factoring in your undergrad degree: not all undergrad degrees are created equal. Some undergrad degrees, like business, engineering, and mathematics degrees, are relatively lucrative out of the starting gate. Will a grad degree really produce a significantly higher salary? If you asked a Magic 8 ball this question, it would say “signs point to yes”: Someone with a bachelor’s in business can expect to earn an average entry-level salary of $56,720, whereas an MBA can earn a projected starting salary of $78,332.

Considering job prospects: When you achieve your graduate degree, will it be easy for you to find a job? With a PhD in an obscure subject, you may be competing for very few available positions. More general degrees may give you more job options and flexibility to grow.

Examining opportunity cost: The value of one choice relative to another alternative is known as opportunity cost. This concept is particularly relevant when you consider the financial opportunities you might lose by taking a few years off from working while you’re in school.

In other words, you won’t be getting a salary while you’re hitting the books. And if you’re already working at a relatively lucrative position, your opportunity cost could be high. You might want to factor this cost in when considering ROEd.

Note: There are ways to offset opportunity cost, such as working while you’re in school. Some employers will offer to pay for part of your schooling in exchange for an agreement that you will work for them for a given period of time.

Making conservative estimates: When calculating your own ROEd, being conservative with how much you think you will earn when you graduate, especially in your first years out of school, can be a big help. A conservative estimate helps keep you from overestimating your ROEd and can give you a better chance of arriving at a decision that’s financially beneficial to you.

Tipping the Balance

One way to improve your ROEd is by lowering the amount you pay for your degree. Look for scholarship programs that can help you pay for your tuition. Also, some degree programs offer full rides to students, often in exchange for teaching undergrad classes.

Sadly, help with tuition can be a rarity for degree programs that typically lead to high-paying jobs, such as MBAs, law degrees, and medical degrees.

If you need to take out student loans to pay for your degree, being smart about terms and interest rates can help you keep your costs down. When you’re considering student loans, shop around for lenders who offer low interest rates, low fees, and favorable terms.

You can refinance your student loans through lenders such as SoFi to help secure lower interest rates or a more flexible loan term. Doing so can be a good idea if you have a better financial profile than when you originally took out your loans.

Lowering the interest rate on your loan can reduce the amount you’ll pay over the life of the loan, helping to improve your ROEd. You can also refinance for a longer loan term—that would get you a lower monthly payment, but wouldn’t help your ROEd because it ultimately might mean paying more interest on your loan overall. Keep in mind that if you do refinance, keep in mind that you’ll lose access to federal loan benefits when refinancing for a private loan.

Also, don’t forget to look into student loan forgiveness programs. If you plan to find employment with a nonprofit or a government organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program after you make 10 years worth of qualifying monthly payments.

You may also want to consider looking for employers who will help you pay back your loans as part of the benefits package they offer to employees.

Intangible Benefits

Though money is an important part of your decision about whether to go to grad school, it isn’t everything. There are lots of benefits that can’t be pegged to a dollar amount, including social connections and whatever extra skills you acquire that aren’t directly related to your degree.

Visit SoFi to learn more about how to pay for graduate school, and how student loan refinancing could aid your repayment plan after grad school.

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May

2019

Does Debt Consolidation Hurt Your Credit?

By SoFi | Credit, Debt Payoff, Financial Independence, personal_loan | No Comments

You may have heard that consolidating your debts can hurt your credit score. So, if you’re considering this financial strategy to free up cash flow and otherwise streamline debts, it’s natural to wonder if that’s true. And like so many questions related to finances, the answer depends upon your specific situation.

It’s important to remember that a combination of many factors can affect credit scores and to understand how those factors are considered in credit score algorithms. We’ll use FICO® as an example—according to them, the high-level breakdown of credit scores is as follows:

• Payment history (35%): This includes delinquent payments and information found in public records.

• Amount currently owed (30%): This includes money you owe on your accounts, as well as how much of your available credit on revolving accounts is currently used up.

• Credit history length (15%): This includes when you opened your accounts and the amount of time since you used each account.

• Credit types used (10%): What is your mix? For example, how much is revolving credit, like credit cards? How much is installment debt, such as car loans and personal loans?

• New credit (10%): How much new credit are you pursuing?

Now, here is information to help you make the right debt consolidation decision.

Benefits of Debt Consolidation

When you’re juggling, say, multiple credit cards, it can be easy to accidentally miss a payment. Depending on the severity of the mistake, that can have a negative impact on your credit score. This, in turn, can make it more challenging to get loans when you need them, or prevent you from getting favorable loan terms, like low interest rates. Plus, even if you don’t miss a payment, when you have numerous credit card bills to juggle, you probably worry that one will get missed.

Plus, it’s not uncommon for credit cards to have high interest rates, and when you only make the minimum payments on each of them, you very well may be paying a significant amount of money each month without seeing balances drop very much at all.

So, when you combine multiple credit cards into one loan, preferably one with a lower interest rate, it’s much more convenient, making it less likely that you’ll accidentally miss a payment. And paying less in interest will likely make it easier to pay down your debt.

How you handle your debt consolidation, though, and the way in which you manage your finances after the consolidation each play significant roles in whether this strategy will ultimately help you.

Steps to Take: Before the Debt Consolidation Loan

Debt accumulates for different reasons for different people. For some, unexpected medical bills or emergency home repairs have served as culprits. For others, being underemployed for a period of time may have caused them to start carrying a credit card debt balance. For still others, it may be about learning how to budget more effectively.

No matter why credit card debt has built up, it can help to re-envision a debt consolidation strategy as something bigger and better than just combining your bills. As part of your plan, analyze why your debt accumulated and be honest about which ones were under your control and which were true emergencies.

And if you end up using a lower-cost loan to consolidate your bills, consider using any money saved to build up an emergency savings fund to help prevent the accumulation of credit card balances in the future.

The reality is that, if you consolidate your debts in conjunction with a carefully crafted budgeting and savings plan, then debt consolidation can be a wonderful first step in your brand-new financial strategy.

Debt Consolidation: When It Can Help Your Credit Score

Based on the factors used by FICO, here are ways in which a consolidation loan can help credit scores:

Payment history (35%)

Because making payments on time is the largest factor in FICO credit scores, a debt consolidation loan can help your credit if you make all of your payments on time.

Amount currently owed (30%)

Although you may not instantly reduce the amount you owe by, say, consolidating all of your credit card balances into a personal loan, there can be a benefit to your credit score here. That’s because the credit score algorithm looks at credit limits on your cards, as well as your outstanding balances, and creates a formula that calculates your credit card utilization.

Here is more information about credit card utilization, including how to calculate and manage yours.

Credit types used (10%)

As you may know, there are several different types of credit, such as credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, and mortgage loans. According to myFICO , responsibly using a mix of these, such as credit cards and installment loans, may help your credit score.

However, it’s certainly not necessary to have one of each, and it’s not a good idea to open credit accounts you don’t intend to use.

Debt Consolidation: When It Can Hurt Your Credit Score

Now, here are ways that the same initial step—taking out a debt consolidation loan—may hurt your credit.

Payment history (35%)

As is the case with most loans, making late payments on a consolidation loan can hurt your credit score (depending on the severity of the situation). Loans in a delinquent status are mostly likely to have a negative impact on your credit, depending on the lenders’ policies.

Learn more about payment history .

Amount currently owed (30%)

Now, let’s say that you pay off all your credit cards with a personal loan and then you begin using them again to the degree that you can’t pay them off monthly. Any gain that you saw in your credit score will likely disappear as your credit utilization numbers rise again.

Another way that credit consolidation can harm your score is if you combine all of your credit card balances to just one credit card, resulting in a high utilization rate. But if you are able to keep it relatively low, it is less likely to negatively affect your score.

Learn more about amounts owed .

Credit history length (15%)

If you close credit cards that you pay off, you’ll reduce the age of your accounts, overall, and this can hurt your credit score.

Learn more about length of credit history .

Credit types used (10%)

If you combine all of your credit card balances into just one credit card, as described above, you won’t have opened an installment (personal) loan, so that won’t help with diversifying credit types.

Learn more about credit mix .

New credit (10%)

If you apply for a personal loan or a balance-transfer credit card and are rejected, this can cause your credit score to decrease. And if you apply for multiple loans or credit cards, looking for a lender that will accept your application, this can also hurt your score. Multiple requests for your credit report information (known as “inquiries”) in a short period of time can decrease your score, though not by much.

Learn more about new credit .

Concerned about building or rebuilding credit? Check out a few tips SoFi put together on how to strategically boost your credit score.

Investigating a Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation

When it’s time to apply for the personal loan, you’ll want to get a low rate. In February 2019, the average credit card interest rate was reported as 17.67%; this means that, by not consolidating your credit cards into a personal loan with a lower interest rate, you could be paying more interest than if you did.

When choosing a lender, ask about the fees associated with the loan. Some lenders charge fees; others,like SoFi, don’t. You can always use a lender’s annual percentage rates (APRs) as a way to understand the true cost of financing.

Also, you may consider calculating the shortest loan term that your budget can comfortably accommodate because, the more quickly you pay off the debt, the more money you’ll save over the life of the loan because you’re paying less in interest.

You can find more information about saving money as you consolidate your debts, and you can also calculate payments using our personal loan calculator.

Consolidate Your Debt with a SoFi Personal Loan

If you’re ready to say goodbye to high-interest credit cards and to juggling multiple payments each month, a SoFi personal loan may be a good option.

Benefits of our personal loans include:

• Fast, easy, and convenient online application process

• Low interest rates

• No origination fees required

• No prepayment fees required

• Fixed rate loan

You deserve peace of mind. And by taking out a personal loan to consolidate debt, the stress of juggling multiple credit card payments can be history. Ready for your fresh start?

Learn more about how using a SoFi personal loan to consolidate high-interest credit card debt could help you meet your goals.

Disclaimer: Many factors affect your credit scores and the interest rates you may receive. SoFi is not a Credit Repair Organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. SoFi does not provide “credit repair” services or advice or assistance regarding “rebuilding” or “improving” your credit record, credit history, or credit rating. For details, see the FTC’s website .

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.

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Marrying Someone With Student Loans

Open and Honest Communication is Key

Who is Responsible For Repayment?

Will My Monthly Payments Change?

Thinking About Refinancing Your Loans with Your Spouse

Should You Start Paying Off Student Loans Before Graduation?

Prepaying Student Loans

Other Ways to Manage Your Debt

Refinancing Through a Private Lender

Ways to Pay for Grad School Without Using Loans

Become an In-State Resident

Apply for Work-Study

Become an RA

Apply for Grants and Scholarships

Find a TA Position

Refinance Your Undergrad Loans

Return on Education: How Graduate Degrees Impact Lifetime Earnings

Lifetime Earnings by Education

Weighing a Graduate Degree

Tipping the Balance

Intangible Benefits

Does Debt Consolidation Hurt Your Credit?

Benefits of Debt Consolidation

Steps to Take: Before the Debt Consolidation Loan

Debt Consolidation: When It Can Help Your Credit Score

Payment history (35%)

Amount currently owed (30%)

Credit types used (10%)

Debt Consolidation: When It Can Hurt Your Credit Score

Payment history (35%)

Amount currently owed (30%)

Credit history length (15%)

Credit types used (10%)

New credit (10%)

Investigating a Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation

Consolidate Your Debt with a SoFi Personal Loan

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