Private Student Loan Rates in 2026: 8 Lenders Compared With Federal Loans
Figures checked October 29, 2026 against primary sources
Private student loan rates at the eight lenders we checked run from about 2% to 17.99% APR, and the rate you get depends on your credit or, much more often, your cosigner's. Federal loans first disbursed from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 carry fixed rates of 6.52% for undergraduates, 8.07% for graduate students and 9.07% for PLUS loans, the same for every borrower. Since July 1, 2026, new graduate students can't get Grad PLUS loans and Parent PLUS has a cap, so more families now have to compare the two.
The Short Answer
- Lender ranges: fixed APRs start around 2% to 3% and top out between 15.99% and 17.99% at national lenders. Two state nonprofit lenders, RISLA and MEFA, offer fixed rates only and top out at 9.24% and 8.90%.
- Most borrowers don't get the lowest rate. Sallie Mae's own example for its most common fixed rate works out to 12.77% to 12.93% APR.
- Federal loans first: 6.52% fixed for undergraduates in 2026-27, with no credit check and access to income-driven repayment and forgiveness. Private loans don't have to offer either.
- From July 1, 2026: no Grad PLUS for new graduate borrowers; Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per dependent student.
- Cosigners: 91% of Sallie Mae's undergraduate loans were cosigned in its last reported year. Several lenders let the student release the cosigner after 12 on-time payments.
- Variable rates follow the 30-day average SOFR, which was 3.90% on October 28, 2026.
Private Student Loan Rates by Lender
Undergraduate loans, as each lender published them. Ranges include the autopay discount where the lender says so.
| Lender | Fixed APR | Variable APR | Autopay discount | Amount | Terms | Cosigner release | Rates as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sallie Mae (Smart Option) | 2.19% - 17.49% | 4.00% - 17.20% | 0.25 point, in repayment only | $1,000 up to cost of attendance less aid | About 10 to 15 years in its examples | After 12 on-time principal and interest payments | Oct 26, 2026 |
| College Ave | 2.05% - 17.99% | 3.89% - 17.99% | 0.25 point (included) | $1,000 up to 100% of cost of attendance less aid | You choose (examples: 8 and 10 years) | Couldn't confirm (help page blocked) | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Ascent | 2.08% - 17.50% | 3.65% - 16.61% | 0.50 point (1.00 point on outcomes-based loans), included | Up to 100% of school-certified costs | 5 to 15 years in its examples | After 12 consecutive on-time payments | Oct 1, 2026 |
| SoFi | 2.99% - 15.99% | 4.64% - 15.99% (capped at 17.95%) | 0.25 point (included) | Not checked | 5, 7, 10 or 15 years | Not checked | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Earnest | From 1.99% (cosigned, with autopay and loyalty discounts); top example 16.74% | Top example 17.10% | 0.25 point | Not checked | 5 to 15 years, 9-month grace period | Not checked | Oct 29, 2026 |
| LendKey (credit unions and community banks) | From 2.09% | From 3.63% | 0.25 point (included) | Up to 100% of school-certified costs | 5, 10 or 15 years | Yes, after required on-time payments | Oct 29, 2026 |
| RISLA (Rhode Island nonprofit, open nationwide) | 2.99% - 9.24% | None | 0.25 point (included) | Up to 100% of costs | 5, 10 or 15 years | Yes, except in CO, CT, ME, NV and DC | Oct 29, 2026 |
| MEFA (Massachusetts nonprofit, open nationwide) | 4.95% - 8.90% | None | Not stated | Up to full cost of education less aid | 10 or 15 years | Co-borrower release on one 15-year option | 2026-27 rates, read Oct 29, 2026 |
Each lender's own website, read October 29, 2026. Not included because their pages couldn't be read: Citizens, ELFI, PNC, Custom Choice. Discover stopped making student loans (see below). We don't earn a commission from any lender here.
Some details behind the numbers:
- The lowest rates need everything to line up. Ascent says its lowest rates require full payments while in school, the shortest term, a cosigner, and the most creditworthy applicants. College Ave's lowest rates need its $25 flat in-school payment and the shortest term. RISLA's 2.99% is for a 5-year loan with its Rhode Island discount; its 15-year deferred loan runs 5.99% to 9.24%.
- Typical rates sit far above the floor. Sallie Mae's "typical transaction" for a $10,000 loan at its most common fixed rate works out to 12.77% to 12.93% APR, and $28,173 to $35,800 in total payments. College Ave's typical freshman examples use 7.78% and 8.35% fixed APRs.
- Graduate loans are priced separately: College Ave lists 2.05% to 16.49% fixed and 3.89% to 15.99% variable; MEFA's graduate loan is 6.60% to 9.93% APR.
- Discover no longer makes student loans. It stopped taking applications on February 1, 2024, and sold its private student loan portfolio (about $10.1 billion) to funds managed by Carlyle and KKR, completed in late 2024, with Firstmark Services, a division of Nelnet, taking over servicing.
- Laurel Road and GradFin are now part of KeyBank.
Federal Rates to Compare Against
| Federal Direct Loan, 2026-27 | Fixed rate | Loan fee |
|---|---|---|
| Subsidized and Unsubsidized, undergraduates | 6.52% | 1.057% |
| Unsubsidized, graduate and professional students | 8.07% | 1.057% |
| PLUS (parents; graduate students who still qualify) | 9.07% | 4.228% |
Federal Register notice 2026-18493 (September 10, 2026), for loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027; loan fees from Federal Student Aid's FY27 sequester announcement, for loans first disbursed before October 1, 2027.
These rates are set once a year from the May 10-year Treasury auction (4.47% in 2026) plus a fixed add-on, and stay fixed for the life of the loan. Every borrower gets the same rate regardless of credit. Federal loans do charge a fee that comes out of each disbursement: on a $10,000 undergraduate loan, $105.70. Over a 10-year payoff that raises the effective cost of a 6.52% loan to about 6.76% a year (our arithmetic). Most private lenders in our table charge no origination fee. Our federal student loan rates guide has the full history.
A private loan only beats an undergraduate federal loan on price if your offer is below roughly 6.5% to 6.8%, and even then you give up the federal protections described below. Against the 9.07% PLUS rate plus its 4.228% fee, more cosigned borrowers with strong credit will see private offers that cost less.
Why More Families Need Private Loans From July 2026
Public Law 119-21, the 2025 budget law, changed federal borrowing limits starting July 1, 2026:
- Grad PLUS ends for graduate and professional students for any period of instruction beginning on or after July 1, 2026. Grad PLUS used to cover up to the full cost of attendance.
- Graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 a year in Direct Unsubsidized Loans, $100,000 in total. Professional students (such as medicine or law) can borrow $50,000 a year, $200,000 in total.
- Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total for each dependent student, counting all parents together. Repaid or forgiven loans still count toward the $65,000.
- Lifetime cap: $257,500 per student across federal loans, not counting Parent PLUS taken out for a child.
There is a transition rule. Students who were enrolled in a program on June 30, 2026 and had received a Direct Loan for it before July 1, 2026 keep the old limits, including Grad PLUS and uncapped Parent PLUS, for the shorter of three academic years or the time left in the program, according to Federal Student Aid's guidance to schools.
For everyone else, a gap between the federal limits and the cost of a graduate program, or above $20,000 a year in parent borrowing, has to be filled with savings, school aid or private loans. Several private and state lenders now market loans directly as Grad PLUS or Parent PLUS replacements. Compare those offers against the 9.07% PLUS rate where PLUS is still available to you.
Fixed vs Variable Rates
A fixed rate stays the same for the whole loan, so your payment never changes. A variable rate is an index plus a margin set when you're approved, and it moves with the index. For private student loans the index is now SOFR (the Secured Overnight Financing Rate published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York), usually its 30-day average:
- Sallie Mae uses the 30-day average SOFR rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of a percent.
- SoFi adds a margin of 0.99% to 12.34% to the 30-day average SOFR and caps variable loans at 17.95%.
- Ascent and SoFi both quoted a 30-day average of 3.65% on their pages in September and October. The New York Fed's figure for October 28, 2026 was 3.895%, so variable rates set today start a bit higher than those pages show.
Variable rates usually start lower than fixed rates at the same lender, but you carry the risk that rates rise over a 10 to 15 year loan. A variable loan makes most sense if you plan to pay it off quickly. If you need a payment you can count on for years, fixed is the safer choice.
Cosigners and Cosigner Release
Most students don't have the credit history or income to qualify alone, so most private student loans have a cosigner, usually a parent. At Sallie Mae, 91% of approved undergraduate loans from October 2023 through September 2024 were cosigned. RISLA says cosigners are on the "vast majority" of its loans. The cosigner owes the full debt if the student doesn't pay, and the loan shows up on both credit reports.
Cosigner release lets the student take the loan over alone after a track record of payments:
- Sallie Mae: after 12 on-time principal and interest payments on each loan (or paying ahead), no 30-day late payment or hardship forbearance in the past 12 months, and a credit review of the student.
- Ascent: after 12 consecutive on-time payments; the student must have graduated.
- RISLA: offered, but not to residents of Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Nevada or Washington, D.C.
- MEFA: only on its 15-year "Student Deferred with Co-Borrower Release" option.
Release isn't automatic, and the student has to qualify on their own credit and income at that point. Before signing, read our guide to cosigning a loan.
What Private Loans Don't Have
Sallie Mae's own disclosure puts it plainly: federal student loans "are required by law to provide a range of flexible repayment options, including, but not limited to, income-based repayment and income-contingent repayment plans, and loan forgiveness and deferment benefits, which other student loans are not required to provide." In practice, a private loan has none of these:
- Income-driven repayment. Federal borrowers can tie payments to income; from July 2026 that is mainly the Repayment Assistance Plan. Private payments are set by the loan contract.
- Forgiveness. Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the other programs in our student loan forgiveness guide apply only to federal loans.
- Federal deferment and forbearance rules. Private lenders offer their own forbearance (LendKey lists up to 18 months for qualifying hardship), on their terms.
- Borrowing without credit history. Students can get federal Direct Loans without a cosigner or credit history, and the rate is the same for everyone.
What private loans can offer: lower rates for borrowers with strong credit or a strong cosigner, no origination fees at most lenders, and higher amounts, up to the school's certified cost of attendance minus other aid.
What the Rate Costs You
Hypothetical example: a $10,000 loan repaid in equal monthly payments over 10 years, starting right away.
| Rate | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 4.00% (strong cosigned private offer) | $101.25 | $2,149 |
| 6.52% (federal undergraduate) | $113.65 | $3,638 |
| 9.00% | $126.68 | $5,201 |
| 13.00% (near Sallie Mae's typical example) | $149.31 | $7,917 |
| 17.00% (top of most lender ranges) | $173.80 | $10,856 |
Our arithmetic, fixed rates, no fees. Stretching the 6.52% loan to 15 years lowers the payment to $87.22 but raises total interest to $5,700.
Deferring payments while in school costs more, because interest keeps adding up for four years or more and is then added to the balance. Sallie Mae's typical $10,000 example, with $25 a month in school, ends at $28,173 to $35,800 in total payments. Earnest's highest-rate 15-year example with full deferral totals $50,436. Run your own numbers in our student loan calculator, or below.
How to Compare Offers
- Take federal aid first. File the FAFSA, then use grants, scholarships and federal Direct Loans before any private loan. Sallie Mae and LendKey say the same on their own sites.
- Prequalify with several lenders. Sallie Mae, SoFi and LendKey prequalify with a soft credit check that doesn't affect your score. The full application then uses a full credit check.
- Compare the APR, not the interest rate. The APR includes fees and, for student loans, the effect of the in-school period. Compare offers with the same term and the same in-school repayment choice.
- Look at total cost. Ask for the total of payments on each offer, as in the lenders' own repayment examples. A longer term or deferral lowers the payment but raises the total.
- Check fees and benefits: origination fees (most here have none), late fees, autopay discount, grace period (6 months at Sallie Mae, 9 at Earnest), forbearance, cosigner release terms, and death or disability discharge.
- Borrow only the gap. Lenders will lend up to the full cost of attendance; you don't have to take it all. Our average student loan debt figures give a sense of what typical balances look like.
Refinancing Later
After graduation, a private loan can be refinanced with another private lender if your credit and income have improved, which can lower the rate or drop the cosigner. Refinancing federal loans is different: they become a private loan for good. KeyBank's disclosure for its Laurel Road refinancing spells it out: you "will no longer be eligible for certain federal benefits or programs," including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, income-driven repayment, forbearance and some Parent PLUS forgiveness options.
If you hold a mix, the usual approach is to refinance only the private loans and keep the federal ones federal. Bank personal loans averaged 11.90% in August 2026, and they don't come with in-school payment options.
Sources & Methodology
- Federal Register 2026-18493: 2026-27 federal Direct Loan rates. Federal Student Aid, FY27 sequester announcement: loan fees.
- Public Law 119-21, section 81001, and Federal Student Aid, loan limits FAQ (May 2026): Grad PLUS, Parent PLUS and lifetime limits.
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York: 30-day average SOFR.
- Discover Financial Services 2024 Form 10-K and its July 17, 2024 8-K: exit from student lending.
- Lenders' own pages: Sallie Mae (rates and cosigner release), College Ave (undergraduate and graduate), Ascent (rates and repayment examples), SoFi and Earnest, LendKey, RISLA, MEFA (rates, 2026-27 announcement and fact sheet), KeyBank (Laurel Road).
Method notes. Rates are what each lender's site showed on the date in the table, for undergraduate loans unless noted, including the autopay discount where the lender includes it. Payment and interest figures are our arithmetic. We don't rank lenders, because your rate depends on your and your cosigner's credit; compare the offers you actually get.
This page is general information, not financial advice. Lender rates change often. Sources read October 29, 2026.
FAQ
What is a good interest rate for a private student loan?
Anything below the federal undergraduate rate of 6.52% (about 6.76% counting the federal loan fee over 10 years) is a strong offer. Advertised floors start around 2%, but Sallie Mae's typical example is near 13%.
Are private student loan rates lower than federal rates?
Only for borrowers with very good credit or a strong cosigner. Federal rates are the same for everyone: 6.52%, 8.07% and 9.07% for 2026-27. Private ranges run from about 2% to 17.99%.
Should I choose a fixed or variable rate?
Fixed if you want a payment that never changes over 10 to 15 years. Variable rates start lower but follow SOFR, so they can rise; SoFi caps its variable loans at 17.95%.
Can I get a private student loan without a cosigner?
Some lenders accept students alone if they have credit history and income, but most undergraduate loans are cosigned: 91% at Sallie Mae in its last reported year.
Can graduate students still get Grad PLUS loans?
Only students covered by the transition rule: enrolled in their program on June 30, 2026 with a Direct Loan for it before July 1, 2026, for up to three more academic years. New graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 a year in federal loans ($50,000 for professional students).
Does Discover still offer student loans?
No. Discover stopped taking applications on February 1, 2024 and sold its student loan portfolio in late 2024. Existing loans are serviced by Firstmark Services.
