Advantage Education Loan Review: Student Loan Refinancing and Private Student Loans

Unlike larger banks and lenders that offer a wide variety of lending products, Advantage Education focuses on one thing: student loans. 

But are Advantage Education's student loan options actually worth considering? Let's take a look at the rates and terms and see how the company stacks up against Juno's lending partners.

Advantage Education Loan 

Advantage Education provides both undergraduate and graduate school loans with 10-year terms. Its loans have fixed interest rates that range from 3.50% APR to 6.99% APR. 

Advantage Education provides co-signer release, which means you can remove a co-signer from the loan without refinancing. You must have at least 36 months of consecutive on-time payments on your record before you can apply for co-signer release. 

Borrowers taking out student loans can choose from immediate repayment, interest-only payments or deferred repayment. Immediate repayment means your full loan payments start while you’re in school, while borrowers who choose interest-only payments pay just interest until they graduate. 
Those who select deferred repayment won’t have any payments due while they’re in school, but that may result in a higher loan balance than the other two options.   

Student Loan Refinancing

Borrowers interested in refinancing can choose from a 10-, 15- or 20-year loan. Advantage Education allows co-signers, which can help you get a lower interest rate or qualify for refinancing if you don’t have a credit score. 

Fixed-rate loans start at 3.74% APR. Advantage Education does not offer variable-rate loans, unlike other lenders. Students can refinance their own loans as well as any Parent PLUS Loans their parents took out on their behalf. 

Juno Student Loans 

Juno provides both undergraduate and graduate student loans with five-, seven-, 10-, 12- and 15-year terms. Here’s what else you should know about these loans:

Undergraduate Loans 

Juno offers undergraduate student loans with fixed interest rates that range from 2.99% APR to 11.78% APR and variable interest rates that range from 0.99% APR to 10.44% APR. 

Borrowers must have a co-signer to qualify for an undergraduate loan, which is a common policy among private lenders. The co-signer can be anyone you know, as long as they have a credit score of 650 or higher and a stable employment record. 

Graduate Loans 

Juno’s graduate student loans have fixed interest rates that range from 2.99% APR to 6.14% APR, and variable interest rates that range from 0.99% APR to 5.77% APR. You can borrow up to the annual cost of attendance, minus any other financial aid. 

Graduate school borrowers are not required to have a co-signer, but having one may help them qualify for a lower interest rate. Juno doesn’t offer co-signer release. If you want to remove a co-signer from your loan, you’ll have to refinance your student loans. 

Juno Student Loan Refinancing 

If you already have student loans with Advantage Education, you can refinance them with another lender to get a lower interest rate, a lower monthly payment or both. If you refinance for a longer term, your monthly payments will decrease but the total interest paid may increase. 

If you refinance to a shorter term, your monthly payments will increase but the total interest paid will decrease. Run the numbers on your budget and choose the term that’s most affordable.

Juno works with three different partners to offer student loan refinancing for both undergraduate and graduate loans as well as exclusive rate discounts and bonuses for its members.

Juno's Exclusive Student Loan Refinance Deals

	Rates	Juno Benefit	Check
Best for Most Can’t be refinanced with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 4.29% APR APR, Variable starting at 5.89% APR including the .25% autopay discount and the .25% Juno discount.	Rate reduction of 0.25%	Soft Credit Check to get rates; Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Earnest Deal (it’s free!)
Alternative Best for Most May be able to refinance with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 4.96% APR, Variable starting at 4.99% APR. May include autopay discount.	Up to $1,000 cash back based on loan amount	Soft Credit Check to get rates; Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Splash Deal (it’s free!)
Best for Medical Professionals May be able to refinance with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 5.74% APR, Variable starting at 5.49% APR *	Rate reduction of 0.25% *	Soft Credit Check to get rates;* Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Laurel Road Deal (it’s free!)

Juno's Exclusive Student Loan Refinance Deals

Earnest

As of Oct. 7, 2021, fixed interest rates for Earnest start at 2.48% APR and variable interest rates start at 1.88% APR with an autopay discount. Borrowers who refinance with Earnest through Juno receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction.

Earnest does not accept co-signers, so if you have no credit score, you’ll likely need to apply with one of the other lenders listed below. 

Splash 

Splash is a lending marketplace that matches borrowers with qualifying lenders. When you apply to refinance with Splash, you can get offers from several companies. Splash allows co-signers.

As of Oct. 7, 2021, the fixed interest rates for Splash start at 2.48% APR and the variable interest rates start at 1.89% APR with an autopay discount.

Borrowers refinancing between $50,000 and $150,000 with Splash will receive a $500 bonus, while those refinancing more than $150,000 will get a $1,000 bonus. Borrowers can use these funds for any purpose, including paying down other debt, building savings or paying for a vacation. This bonus is available only if you refinance with Splash through Juno.

Laurel Road

Laurel Road provides student loan refinancing to medical professionals, including physician assistants, optometrists, dentists, nurses and doctors. As of Oct. 7, 2021, the fixed interest rates start at 2.50% APR and the variable interest rates start at 1.89% APR. 

Doctors in residency or fellowship have to make only $100 monthly payments — a huge perk considering their salaries are relatively low during these periods.

Borrowers who refinance through Laurel Road with Juno will get an interest rate that is 0.25% less than what they would qualify for if they went through Laurel Road directly. Laurel Road allows co-signers.