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When students take a gap year, they typically take a semester or year off between high school and college in order to take advantage of experiential learning. While extraordinary opportunities may be awaiting you, you may struggle to think of ways to pay for the experience.

If that’s the case, there are options that may help you pay for your gap year — beyond funding the costs out of pocket. Continue reading for more information on options you may want to consider should you find yourself in need of help funding your non-classroom experience.

Gap Year, Explained

First of all, what is a gap year and why do people take them?

Students may choose to take a semester or year off with the goal of getting a break from academics and prior to diving into postsecondary education. Students may choose to complete an internship, travel, study on their own, volunteer, or pursue other interests. Some students choose to pursue a gap year with the intention of discovering what it is that they want to major in or the career path they’d like to pursue.

Many students report a developed self- and cultural awareness, increased independence, and confidence after taking a gap year.

Students may choose to apply to colleges and universities during their senior year (and let colleges know of their plans to take a gap year), during their gap year or after they’ve completed their gap year. Waiting until later often gives them the advantage of being able to report on what they’ve learned during their time away from academics.

In some instances, a gap year may also be something for a student to do after college or in-between college and post-graduate study.

Planning Out Your Gap Year

It’s important to plan out your gap year ahead of time so you have a plan for how you’ll spend your time. It can be easy to waste time when you break from a traditional schedule. Having a plan ensures that you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals — you might even curb expenses as well.

It may be helpful to break your plan down into measurable goals. For example, if you plan to travel, write down where you’d like to be on specific dates so you don’t miss any of your intended milestones. It’s also a good idea to budget for your gap year ahead of time so you know how much it will cost and the amount you’ll need per week or month to live on.

Options for Financing Your Gap Year

You can always finance your gap year with cash you or your parents have saved or with money from a well-meaning grandparent. However, not everyone has cash bankrolling their gap year. Let’s take a look at a few ways you may want to consider financing your gap year.

Gap Year Scholarship or Grant

A private entity may offer you a gap year grant or scholarship. A scholarship is free money that you don’t have to pay back that can come from a wide variety of entities, including clubs, organizations, foundations, charities, businesses, the government and individuals. It’s possible to find scholarships specifically for gap years, particularly for students who want to volunteer, improve certain skills, volunteer, develop a talent, or complete another type of experiential learning.

Grants are also a form of financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Grants may also help you fund your gap year without having to repay the money. However, it’s important to check into the fine print on both college grants and scholarships to ensure that you fit the criteria. (Some scholarships and grants require you to get college credit in order to qualify.)

529 Account or College Savings

If you or your parents have college savings set aside in a brokerage account, savings or checking account, or a certificate of deposit (CD), you may want to use this money to pay for gap year expenses.

A 529 plan is an investment account that offers investment opportunities and tax advantages when used to pay for qualified education expenses. You may take withdrawals from a 529 plan to pay for qualified educational expenses for tuition, room, board, fees, books, equipment for classes, and other supplies at an accredited institution. If you meet these requirements, you won’t pay federal income tax.

However, if you spend the money on an expense that doesn’t qualify as a higher education cost (such as your plane ticket to go overseas). Be careful when using your 529 savings unless you’re attending a specific program through an accredited institution.

Find a Paid Internship or Part-Time Job

Obtaining a paid internship or part-time job can help you float some or all of the expenses of a gap year. For example, if you plan to spend your year volunteering at soup kitchens throughout a major city, a part-time job may help you pay for transportation to get there and also other living expenses. On the other hand, if you intend to use your gap year to gain work experience to discover your career goals, a paid internship may help you take care of all of your living expenses.

Recommended: Jobs to Help Pay for School Expenses

Apply for Financial Aid

Financial aid can refer to a wide range of types of money to pay for credits at college or career school.

Some gap year programs offer college credit, so you may be able to apply for federal financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). The FAFSA can give you access to grants, federal student loans, and other opportunities.

While you may have never had any intention of taking college credit during a gap year (you may feel that it defeats the purpose of a gap year!) but taking a college-credit class or two as part of your experience or doing a credit-based gap year program may help cover some of your costs.

Personal Loans

Taking out a personal loan involves borrowing money from a bank, online lender, or credit union that you repay in fixed installments. Personal loans are not backed by collateral, which also means they are called unsecured loans. (Secured loans, on the other hand, are backed by collateral, such as a house.) Personal loans often carry higher interest rates than some other types of loans. It may be difficult for someone to get a personal loan without a cosigner if they don’t have a long history of building credit.

It’s a good idea to be careful about taking out a personal loan due to these higher interest rates and having to bring a cosigner on board. That cosigner could end up paying for your loan if you default on the loan and ultimately, it could affect both of your credit scores.

Using Private Student Loans to Finance Gap Year

Private student loans are student loans that come from a bank, credit union, or other private lender. You probably cannot use private student loans to finance your time off from school if you plan to backpack across Europe, but if you do take a few classes as part of a gap year program, you may be able to use private loans to cover your costs. Check with lenders about their requirements before you apply and whether or not a particular program will qualify.

The Takeaway

A gap year can help “gappers” explore career goals, develop confidence, volunteer, and more. If you’re thinking carefully about a gap year, you also might be worried about the cost of taking that time off. Consider putting together a list of costs, goals, and plans so you can make sure that your gap year goes off without a hitch. From there, you can start planning how you’ll cover your expenses during your time away from the classroom.

Finally, don’t forget that you can always put together a combination of sources of funding. For example, you can pay for your gap year with a combination of scholarships, money saved, and internship money.

3 Student Loan Tips

1. Need a private student loan to cover your school bills? Because approval for a private student loan is based on creditworthiness, a cosigner may help a student get loan approval and a lower rate.
2. Even if you don’t think you qualify for financial aid, you should fill out the FAFSA form. Many schools require it for merit-based scholarships, too. You can submit it as early as Oct. 1.
3. It’s a good idea to understand the pros and cons of private student loans and federal student loans before committing to them.

SoFi private student loans offer competitive interest rates for qualifying borrowers, flexible repayment plans, and no fees.

FAQ

How much should I budget for a gap year?

The amount you should budget for a gap year depends on your personal circumstances. It also depends on what you plan to do. Living at home with your parents and volunteering in your community will likely cost less than hopping on a plane and spending a year abroad. No matter what your plan, it’s best to get an estimate of your expenses ahead of time and then use that as a basis for your budget throughout your gap year.

How can I get funding for a gap year?

There are many ways to get funding for a gap year. Depending on your situation and circumstances, you may consider tapping into scholarships, grants, a 529 account, college savings, through a paid internship or part-time job, financial aid, personal loans or private student loans. There’s no single way to fund your gap year, and you may also want to consider a combination of different sources to pay for it.

How long should a gap year be?

A gap year can be any length of time, but they typically last between two weeks and one year.

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Photo credit: iStock/Pekic

SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student Loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. You should exhaust all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs. SoFi Private Student Loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, and applicants must meet SoFi’s eligibility and underwriting requirements. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria for more information. To view payment examples, click here. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is subject to change.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

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.

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.

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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Going to college or graduate school is a serious investment in your future — both professionally and financially. Naturally, you’ll want to know how much financial aid you’re eligible for, including student loans, grants, and work-study programs.

The amount of federal aid that prospective and current students receive is based on a variety of factors, and everyone’s financial situation is unique. But familiarizing yourself with the following requirements and questions can help paint a clearer picture of how much FAFSA money you will get.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

Many incoming and current college and graduate students are eligible for federal aid. Students must satisfy the following criteria to apply:

•   Be a U.S. citizen, national, or eligible noncitizen

•   Have a valid Social Security number, unless you’re from the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau

•   Have a high school diploma or GED

•   Promise to use awarded federal aid for education purposes only

•   Do not owe refunds on any federal student grants

How Do I Begin the FAFSA?

The first step to completing the FAFSA is creating your FSA user ID and password. From there, you’ll answer a series of questions covering demographic information, schools you are interested in attending, financial details, and information from parents or guardians based on dependency status.

Filling out the FAFSA may feel intimidating, but a little preparation can save you from common FAFSA mistakes, like leaving important fields blank.

What Factors Affect FAFSA Money?

The application includes questions about demographics and finances for students and sometimes their families to answer. Collectively, this information will determine how much need-based and non-need-based aid students qualify for.

Applying for the FAFSA Every Year of School and on Time

Filling out the FAFSA is not a one-time deal. Students must file the FAFSA each year they are enrolled in college or graduate school. Yet approximately 40% of high school seniors do not fill out the FAFSA, and a quarter of college and graduate students do not renew their application after their first year of studies.

There are several important FAFSA deadlines to be aware of. The federal deadline for the 2023-2024 academic year (this includes students beginning school in winter or spring 2024) is June 30, 2024. For the 2024-2025 academic year, students can submit the FAFSA once it opens in December 2023.

State deadlines vary, and many precede the federal deadline by one or several months. Applying early can increase your chance of receiving additional financial aid from your home state in the form of grants or scholarships.

Dependency Status

An applicant’s dependency status is determined by 10 questions found at StudentAid.gov/dependency. Even if your parents claim you as a dependent for tax purposes, you may still qualify as an independent for federal financial aid. You most likely qualify for independent status if you meet any of the following requirements when filling out the FAFSA:

•   At least 24 years old

•   Married

•   A graduate or professional student (law, medicine, etc.)

•   A veteran or active member of the armed forces

•   An orphan, ward of the court, or emancipated minor

•   Claiming legal dependents other than a spouse

•   Homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

Your dependency status affects how much financial aid you’re eligible to receive. In many cases, independent students can be eligible for more financial aid, as they are assumed to be paying their own tuition and living expenses.

Still, dependent students may be eligible for a variety of financial aid opportunities from federal or state governments and colleges through the FAFSA. Most incoming and current undergraduate students are considered dependent. This means that information from parents or guardians, such as tax returns, must be submitted and will affect whether financial aid is awarded and how much.

In special circumstances, students may file for a dependency override. These are awarded case by case, and are typically reserved for students facing exceptional family-related issues or whose parents are unwilling to provide information for the FAFSA.

Expected Family Contribution

Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, primarily applies to dependent students. The EFC calculates eligibility and aid based on several financial and demographic indicators, including:

•   A family’s taxed and untaxed income

•   A family’s assets and benefits (unemployment and Social Security, for example)

•   Family size and number of dependents enrolled in or likely to attend college

This calculation determines need-based and non-need-based aid eligibility and amount, rather than a figure a family is expected to pay toward education. Typically, a lower EFC translates to greater financial aid eligibility as a result of higher need.

Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, the EFC will be replaced by the Student Aid Index, or SAI. It fulfills the same basic purpose but works a little differently. You can learn more about the upcoming Student Aid Index here.

Cost of Attendance

Education costs can vary considerably based on merit-based scholarships, in-state vs. out-of-state residency, and other factors. The amount of FAFSA money you receive will also depend on the cost of attendance for your chosen college or university.

The cost of attendance encompasses tuition, fees, room and board, books and school supplies, and expenses associated with child care or disabilities, if applicable. A lower cost of attendance usually translates to less aid, because the funding can be used only for education purposes.

Not sure where you want to apply? Our College Search tool can help.

How Much Money Will I Get From FAFSA?

The amount of FAFSA money you receive cannot exceed the cost of attendance for your chosen college or university.

Before applying, the Federal Student Aid Estimator is a useful tool to estimate the amount of federal student aid you may qualify for.

Assuming that you meet the eligibility criteria and are applying on time, you may receive some form of federal financial aid, especially if your EFC is less than your cost of attendance. Potential sources of federal student aid include the following programs:

Grants

Unlike loans, grants are free money to put toward your education that does not have to be paid back. After completing the FAFSA, students with proven financial need may receive aid in the form of a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant or Pell Grant. Opportunity grants are allocated based on need, other aid awarded, and college budgets. Pell Grants change annually but can be as high as $7,395 for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Work-Study

Federal work-study programs typically involve a part-time job on or off campus. Wages are set by the college but must meet minimum-wage requirements. Work-study schedules are intended to be structured around students’ classes.

Federal Loans

Eligibility for federal student loans is generally broader than for grants and work-study programs. Federal loans are either subsidized or unsubsidized, with subsidized loans being need-based and including interest deferment and grace periods. On the other hand, unsubsidized loans begin accruing interest as soon as they are paid out to borrowers.

Different types of federal student loans exist, and each has a maximum award amount according to dependency status and year of study. Dependent undergraduate students have an aggregate loan limit of $31,000. Independent undergraduates can take out $57,500, and graduate students can borrow up to $138,500.

How Else Can I Pay for College?

If financial aid isn’t enough to cover your tuition and other education expenses, there are ways to make college more affordable.

Scholarships and Grants

Besides scholarships granted by your chosen college, there are opportunities offered by private foundations, community groups, and nonprofit organizations. Awards can be given based on academic merit, need, field of study, or participation in a specific sport or activity. Our Scholarship Search tool can help you unearth available awards filtered by school type, field of study, state, and more.

Try to stay on top of scholarship and grant applications and deadlines as they can come and go quickly. Winning a scholarship or a grant is basically finding free money, and you don’t want that money to go unclaimed.

Private Student Loans

Students who cannot pay for college with scholarships and federal aid alone can apply for private student loans from various financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and online lenders. Interest rates, forbearance, and other terms and conditions can vary, so shop around to compare loan rates and terms.

SoFi’s no-fee private student loans are an option for students to help pay for college and graduate school. Flexible repayment plans can ease the search for a loan that works with a student’s budget and financial plan.

Learn how you can help pay for your education with private student loans from SoFi.

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SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student Loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. You should exhaust all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs. SoFi Private Student Loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, and applicants must meet SoFi’s eligibility and underwriting requirements. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria for more information. To view payment examples, click here. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is subject to change.

Non affiliation: SoFi isn’t affiliated with any of the companies highlighted in this article.

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.

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.

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.

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If you’re like many Americans, you may have student loans, and you may also hope to own your home at some point. You may worry that carrying student debt and buying your own place are mutually exclusive, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Yes, it can be true those with higher student loan balances may be less likely to be homeowners than peers with lower amounts of debt. However, understanding your debt-to-income ratio and other aspects of your financial profile can be vital. This insight can both inform how much room there is in your budget for a home loan payment and highlight how to improve your odds of being approved for a mortgage.

With this guide, you’ll learn the ropes, such as:

•   Understanding how mortgage lenders evaluate your finances

•   How your student loans impact your profile

•   Steps you can take that may boost your chances of getting a home loan application approved when you have student debt.

Getting a Mortgage When You Have Student Loans

Student loans are a familiar financial burden. Currently, Americans hold in excess of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. A significant 70% of undergraduates finish school with an average sum of $37,000 or more in student loans.

You may wonder how having student loans can impact your eligibility for a mortgage. Here’s what you should know: When a lender is considering offering you a home loan, they want to feel confident that you will pay them back on time. A key factor is whether they think you can afford the mortgage payment with everything else on your plate. To assess this, a lender will consider your debt-to-income (or DTI) ratio, or how high your total monthly debt payments are relative to your income.

For the debt component, the institution will look at all your liabilities. These can include:

•   Car loans

•   Credit card payments

•   Student loans.

In the case of student loans (other than those forgiven by Biden administration), banks know that you’re likely to be responsible for that debt. It usually can’t be discharged in a bankruptcy and it’s not secured to an asset that a lender can recover.

Many industry professionals say that your debt-to-income ratio should ideally be below 36%, with 43% the maximum. If you have a high student loan payment or a relatively low income, that can affect your debt-to-income ratio and your chances of qualifying for a mortgage.


💡 Quick Tip: When house hunting, don’t forget to lock in your home mortgage loan rate so there are no surprises if your offer is accepted.

Can You Get a Mortgage With Student Loan Debts?

Are you wondering, “How much house can I afford with student loans?” Here are some important facts. Having student loan debt doesn’t disqualify you from getting a mortgage, but it can make it harder. So here’s how student loans are calculated for a mortgage: That student loan debt will increase your DTI ratio, which can make it harder to qualify for funds from lenders.

For example, here’s a hypothetical situation: Say you earn an annual salary of $60,000, making your gross monthly income $5,000. Say you owe $650 per month on a car loan and have a credit card balance with a $500 monthly minimum payment.

And let’s say you have student loans with a minimum payment of $650 a month. All your debt payments add up to $1,800 a month. So your debt-to-income ratio is $1,800/$5,000 = 0.36, or 36%. That’s right at the limit that some conventional lenders allow. So you can see how having a high student loan payment can affect your ability to qualify for a mortgage.

Another way that student loans can affect your chances of buying a home is if you have a history of missed payments. If you don’t make your minimum student loan payments each month, that gets recorded in your credit history.

When you fail to make payments consistently, your loans can become delinquent or go into default. Skipping payments is a red flag to your potential mortgage lender: Since you haven’t met your obligations on other loans in the past, they may fear you’re at risk of failing to pay a new one as well.

That said, if you have an acceptable DTI ratio and a history of on-time payments on your student loans, you likely have a good shot at being approved for a mortgage. It’s not a matter of having to make a choice between paying off student loans or buying a house.

Estimate How Much House You Can Afford

Taking into account the debt-to-income ratio you just learned about, use this home affordability calculator to get a general idea of how much you can afford. This tool is one you can use to help estimate the cost of purchasing a home and the monthly payment.

How Student Loan Debt Affects Your DTI Ratio

As mentioned above, student loan debt can increase your DTI ratio. How much it will increase your DTI number will depend on how big your loan debt is. Currently, the average federal student loan debt is $37,338 per borrower. The figure for private student loan debt is $54,921.

Obviously, to get that average figure, many different amounts are factored in. Consider these two scenarios:

•   Person A earns $120,000 and has $80,000 in student loan debt, plus a car payment, plus $15,00 in credit card debt.

•   Person B earns $80,000, and has $10,000 in student loan debt, no car payment, and $3,000 in credit card debt.

It’s likely that Person B will have an easier time qualifying for a home loan than Person A. It boils down to one having a higher DTI ratio.

Recommended: Strategies to Pay Off Student Debt

Improving Your Chances of Qualifying for a Mortgage

Are you wondering how to buy a house with student debt? Your student loan debt is just one part of the picture when you go shopping for a home loan. Lenders look at many other aspects of your financial situation to assess your trustworthiness as a borrower. By focusing on improving these factors, you may be able to increase your chances of getting a mortgage.

•   Credit score: One of the most important things to address is your credit score, since this is a key measure lenders use to evaluate how risky it would be to lend to you. Your credit score is determined by many factors, including whether you’ve missed payments on bills in the past, how much debt you have relative to your credit limits, the length of your credit history, and whether you’ve declared bankruptcy.

If your credit score is below 650 or 700, you may want to work on building it. Starting by consistently making your payments on time, paying off debt, or responsibly opening a new credit line may help.

•   Automate your payments. If keeping up with payments has been challenging in the past, setting up automatic payments to your credit card. You might also establish automatic payments to, say, your utilities through your providers or your bank to help you stay on track without having to memorize due dates. In the case of a bankruptcy, you’ll typically have to wait 10 years for it to disappear from your record.

•   Strengthen your work history. Your employment matters to a lender because, if you’re at risk of losing your job, your ability to pay back the loan could change as well. Gaps in employment, frequent job changes, or lack of work experience can all be red flags for a financial institution.

If employment history is a weakness in your application, perhaps you can focus on finding a more stable role than you’ve had in the past as you are saving for a house. This could also be a matter of waiting until you’ve been in a new job for a couple of years before applying for a mortgage.

•   Save up for a bigger down payment. Another way to improve your prospects is to save more money for your down payment. If you have enough to put at least 20% down on a home, your student loans may become less of a factor for the lender.

You can save for a down payment by putting funds in an interest-bearing savings account or CD, asking wedding guests (if you’re getting hitched) to contribute to a “house fund,” earning more income, or even asking a family member for a gift or loan.

•   Focus on your DTI ratio. Another key area you could focus on is your debt-to-income ratio. Tackling some of your debts — whether student loans, credit card balances, or a car loan — could help lower that ratio. Another strategy is to increase your income, perhaps by asking for a raise, getting a new job, or taking on a side hustle. This can help you pay down debt and improve your DTI ratio.

How Student Loan Refinancing May Help

If you’re buying a home with student loans, another way to potentially improve your debt-to-income ratio is to look into student loan refinancing. When you refinance your student loans with a private lender, you replace your existing loans — whether federal, private, or a mix of the two — with a new one that comes with fresh terms.

Refinancing can help borrowers obtain a lower interest rate than they previously had, which may translate to meaningful savings over the life of the loan. You may also be able to lower your monthly payments through refinancing, which can reduce your debt-to-income ratio.

Refinancing isn’t for everyone, since you can lose benefits associated with federal loans, such as access to deferment, forbearance, loan forgiveness, and income-based repayment plans.

But for many borrowers, especially those with a solid credit and employment history, it can be an effective way to reduce debt more quickly and improve the chances of getting a mortgage.


💡 Quick Tip: Not to be confused with prequalification, preapproval involves a longer application, documentation, and hard credit pulls. Ideally, you want to keep your applications for preapproval to within the same 14- to 45-day period, since many hard credit pulls outside the given time period can adversely affect your credit score, which in turn affects the mortgage terms you’ll be offered.

Don’t Let Student Loans Hold You Back

With many Americans holding student loan debt, it’s understandable that this financial burden could pose a hurdle for some would-be homeowners. But can you get a mortgage with student loans? Yes, student loans and a mortgage aren’t mutually exclusive. Paying for your education doesn’t have to cost you your dream of owning a home.

If you’ve been making payments on time and your debt is manageable relative to your income, your loans might not be an issue at all. If your student loans do become a factor, you can take steps to get them under control, potentially improving your chances of qualifying for a mortgage. One option could be refinancing those loans.

Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.

With SoFi, refinancing is fast, easy, and all online. We offer competitive fixed and variable rates.

FAQ

Can I refinance student loans to improve my mortgage eligibility?

Refinancing student loans might improve your mortgage eligibility. If you obtain a lower rate, you could potentially pay down your student loans more quickly, which could lower your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. However, refinancing federal loans can mean you are no longer eligible for loan forgiveness and other programs.

Can a cosigner help if I have student loans and want to buy a house?

Having a cosigner on your student loans could help with your mortgage qualification if you are “on the bubble” in terms of qualifying. A cosigner with a strong financial profile and credit history could help tip you into the approval zone.

Will a history of on-time student loan payments positively impact my mortgage application?

A history of on-time loan payments is an asset. It can help build your credit score, which is one of the factors lenders use to assess whether to approve your mortgage application.

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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.

Checking Your Rates: To check the rates and terms you may qualify for, SoFi conducts a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product and continue your application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

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Terms, conditions, and state restrictions apply. Not all products are available in all states. See SoFi.com/eligibility for more information.

*SoFi requires Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) for conforming home loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio greater than 80%. As little as 3% down payments are for qualifying first-time homebuyers only. 5% minimum applies to other borrowers. Other loan types may require different fees or insurance (e.g., VA funding fee, FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums, etc.). Loan requirements may vary depending on your down payment amount, and minimum down payment varies by loan type.

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