How to Refinance Sallie Mae Student Loans

If you've never refinanced your student loans before, you might assume that all refinancing is done with your current lender. If you've looked into refinancing your Sallie Mae student loans and discovered that they don't currently offer refinancing, you may be wondering what to do next.

In reality, refinancing often involves changing to a new lender. Juno offers refinancing options through several different private lenders, along with extra perks for starting the process with Juno. Here's what you need to know to choose the best option.

Can You Refinance Student Loans with Sallie Mae?

Sallie Mae is a student loan company that provides undergraduate and graduate loans, including medical school and law school. Sallie Mae only administers private student loans currently, but they used to be a federal loan servicer. 

Sallie Mae only services private student loans; they do not offer their own refinancing. You'll have to apply with a different company if you're interested in refinancing your Sallie Mae student loans. 

Sallie Mae also does not provide student loan consolidation. Consolidation means grouping different loans together into one new loan. When you refinance, you can opt to refinance several different loans together to consolidate. Consolidating will simplify the repayment process, turning many student loan payments into one. 

Should You Refinance Sallie Mae Student Loans?

If you have a Sallie Mae education loan, you should verify whether it's a federal or private loan before refinancing. Refinancing federal loans will strip away protections and repayment options the U.S. Department of Education offers like student loan forgiveness, income-driven repayment plans, and federal forbearance and deferment options. But if you have a stable job and a sizeable emergency fund, you may consider refinancing federal student loans to save on interest.

If you have private student loan debt, refinancing doesn't come with any downsides. That's because private student loans often carry high-interest rates. Current loan interest rates for Sallie Mae loans can range as high as 12.60% APR for fixed-rate loans and 11.23% APR for variable-rate loans. But if you have a good credit score and are employed, you can refinance your full student loan amount for a much lower rate.

You can decide to refinance your student loans for the same repayment term, a shorter term, or a longer term. Generally, loans with short terms will have lower interest rates than loans with longer terms. Look at your overall budget and decide whether you would rather have a lower monthly payment or a lower total interest burden. Be sure to check the total change in cost over the life of the loan.

When refinancing, you can choose between a fixed interest rate loan and a variable interest rate loan. A fixed-rate loan will have the same payment the entire loan term, while payments on a variable-rate loan may increase or decrease. The changes depend on overall market conditions.