SoFi Blog

Tips and news—
for your financial moves.

5 Common Student Loan Mistakes to Avoid This School Year

It’s that time of year again: back to school time. And while students are anxious to walk through their school halls, check off their back to school lists, and make sure they have plenty of friends in every class, graduates may be struggling to pay off their debt.

Unfortunately, student loan debt is at an all-time high and continues to rise. The average student loan debt for 2017 graduates was $39,400 amounting to $1.48 trillion in total student loan debt. This exceeds the amount of credit card debt in the United States by $694 billion.

In the summer of 2016, we surveyed around 1,000 young professionals for The Impact of Student Loan Benefits, a white paper outlining the effect of student loan debt on employee recruitment. We found over 60% of respondents reported that student loan debt is one of the top two financial concerns in their lives. While student loans are clearly a stressor for millennials, there’s a way to prevent them from causing students so much anxiety.

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Student Loan Help Center: Help Affording & Repaying Loans



Student Loan Help Center

Looking for student loan help?

We’ve put together a page completely dedicated to helping you understand, navigate, and manage your student loans.
From scholarship search tools to calculators, our tools and resources will help answer all of your burning student loan questions.

Student Loans 101

Get started by reading some introductory articles that can help point you in the right direction.

Student loan Terminology

If you’re a student loan borrower, you’ve probably noticed that your loans have a language all their own. Getting a grasp on student loan terms like interest rate vs. APR, subsidized vs. unsubsidized loans, and fixed vs. variable interest rates can help you make more informed, confident decisions.

Use these articles and resources to gain a better understanding of what some common student loan terminology means.

What you need to know about student loans, grants, and scholarships.

Depending on where your school is, you have different options when it comes to getting the money you need to pay for school. Here are some resources to help.

Select your state to get started:

Tools to help navigate student debt.

Try these different tools to calculate your savings, estimate your payoff date, and more.

Student Loan Payoff Calculator

Use this calculator to get an idea of when your student loan payoff date will be—and how to make that date come even sooner.

Go to Calculator

Student Loan Debt Navigator

Understanding how to manage your student debt can be complicated. Use this tool to learn about repayment options that work for you.

Go to Navigator

Student Loan Savings Calculator

Add in your current student loan information, and we’ll calculate your estimated savings—both monthly and over the lifetime of your loan.

Go to Calculator

Graduate School Debt Help

Looking for degree-specific articles and resources? This section is for you.

Even more help with your student loans.

It’s okay if you’re still lost. Here are more articles and resources to help depend your understanding of student loans and refinancing.

FAQS


Who should refinance?

Refinancing is a great solution for working graduates who have high-interest, unsubsidized Direct Loans, Graduate PLUS loans, and/or private loans. Federal loans do carry some special benefits, for example, public service forgiveness and economic hardship programs, that may not be accessible to you after you refinance. Check out this blog post that provides more information: When to Consolidate Federal and Private Loans by Refinancing. Or, call us for a free consultation about your particular situation.


What’s the difference between fixed and variable rate loans?

Fixed rate loans are loans that have an interest rate that does not change over the life of a loan, which means you pay the same amount each month. Variable rate loans are loans that have an interest rate that will fluctuate over time in line with prevailing interest rates. Learn more here


See FAQs

Refinance your student loans with SoFi today.

Check your rates online in minutes and see how you can save.


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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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What Do Employees Value Most: Dream Job or Salary?

If you were to put together a “Dream Job” list, you’d probably have a few positions on there because you love the work (think illustrator or travel blogger)—and a few because you love the salary that comes with it (say, pro athlete).

Dream job ideas aside, when you’re searching for a new job, you’re probably pondering a similar question: What should you prioritize, the type of work that you’ll be doing or your income?

In an ideal world, you’d snag a well-paying job that you adore, but that combination isn’t exactly easy to find.

The bottom line: There’s no one answer that’s appropriate for everyone. After all, when it comes to what employees value the most, there’s a lot of variation from person to person. But there are some key questions that you can ask yourself in order to figure out what suits you best.

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SoFi Announces Election of Peggy Alford and Magdalena Yeşil to its Board of Directors

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – July 3, 2018 – SoFi announced today the election of Peggy Alford and Magdalena Yeşil to its Board of Directors, effective today.

“We are very pleased to add Peggy and Magdalena to our Board,” said Tom Hutton, chairman of the Board. “Both bring significant experience and perspective from decades working at the intersection of finance and technology, and will help our Board and the management deliver on our mission of helping SoFi members achieve financial independence.”

“We have made significant progress this year in bringing aboard incredible talent at all levels of SoFi. Today is another step adding to our leadership” said Anthony Noto, CEO and board director. “Both Peggy and Magdalena not only share a passion for our mission and deep knowledge of fintech, but also for helping us build a world-class culture at SoFi.”

Ms. Alford is the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Previously she held positions at PayPal as CFO of Americas, Global Credit and Global Products and COO in the Asia Pacific region. Most recently, she served as the head of Human Resources-People Operations as well as the head of Cross-Border Trade for PayPal. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Dayton University and is a Certified Public Accountant. She also serves on the board of directors of Macerich (NYSE:MAC).

“I am big believer in SoFi’s vision of providing people a better way of handling their finances, and I’m honored to be joining the Board,” said Ms. Alford. “I have tremendous respect for Anthony, his team and the other Board members, and I look forward to working with them.”

Ms. Yeşil is a founder, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist of many of the world’s top technology companies, including Salesforce, where she was the first investor and founding board member. She is a former general partner at U.S. Venture Partners, where she oversaw investments in more than thirty early-stage companies and served on the boards of many. A technology pioneer, Ms. Yeşil founded three of the first companies dedicated to commercializing Internet access, e-commerce infrastructure, and electronic payments. UUnet, CyberCash, and MarketPay earned her the Entrepreneur of the Year title from Red Herring in 1997. She is a founder of Broadway Angels, a group of female venture capitalists and angel investors. Ms. Yeşil is currently working on her fourth startup, DriveInformed, a technology company bringing trust and transparency to the auto finance industry. She also serves on the board of directors of Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) and Zuora (NYSE:ZUO).

“The way SoFi is changing the definition of service for members is unprecedented in financial services, and all the more powerful because it’s built from the ground up with technology at its core,” said Ms. Yeşil. “I look forward to working with SoFi’s leadership and team to keep pushing that change forward.”

Additionally, SoFi announced Board director David Chao is departing his role. Mr. Chao, the Co-Founder and General Partner at DCM Ventures, joined the Board in 2012.

About SoFi
SoFi is a new kind of finance company taking a radical approach to lending, wealth management and insurance. From unprecedented products and tools to faster service and open conversations, we’re all about helping our members get ahead and find success. Whether they’re looking to buy a home, save money on student loans, ascend in their careers, or invest in the future, the SoFi community works to empower our members to accomplish the goals they set and achieve financial greatness as a result. For more information, visit SoFi.com.

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