Why the advertised rate is the bottom of the range

Comparison sites are paid a flat amount per funded refinance, and ELFI's own affiliate page puts that at $400, and FlexOffers' public listing for SoFi at $120 (checked 2026-08-25). A flat payout rewards the click, and the smallest number on the page is the one that gets the click.

Who pays a comparison site when you refinance?

The lender does, per loan, and the amounts are public. ELFI's affiliate page states $400 to the referrer when a referred customer refinances at least $15,000, plus $100 to the borrower (checked 2026-08-25, ELFI's affiliate page). FlexOffers' public listing for Splash Financial states $240 per closed loan with a 150-day cookie (checked 2026-08-25, the FlexOffers listing for Splash Financial).

The other programs follow the same shape. FlexOffers lists LendKey at $200 to $320 per disbursed refinance with a 90-day cookie; LendKey's own refer-a-friend page states $200 (checked 2026-08-25, the FlexOffers listing for LendKey). FlexOffers lists SoFi at $120 per funded refinance (checked 2026-08-25, the FlexOffers listing for SoFi). Earnest's referral FAQ states $200 to the referrer once the borrower signs and does not cancel (checked 2026-08-25, Earnest's referral FAQ).

Marketplaces are in the chain too. Juno's referral terms state $300 to the referrer when a referred borrower signs within 365 days of creating an account. Juno's partner page states that Juno is itself paid referral fees by lenders (checked 2026-08-25, Juno's referral terms). Credible's consumer referral page offers a $500 e-gift card when a referred friend refinances $30,000 or more through the link (checked 2026-08-25, Credible's referral page). A marketplace is paid by lenders and then pays whoever sent it the borrower.

What does thecollegeinvestor.com say about this?

It says the payments may affect the order. Its "Best Places To Refinance Student Loans" page states: "TheCollegeInvestor.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear." (checked 2026-08-25, thecollegeinvestor.com). Its Advertise page sells "Affiliate Marketing" as an advertising product (checked 2026-08-25, its Advertise page).

The same site publishes a dated weekly "Best Student Loan Refinance Rates" post, for example on August 20, 2026 and August 13, 2026. Credible, a marketplace, is listed first in each (checked 2026-08-25, the August 20, 2026 post). Its "student loan refinancing tool" page lists 27 companies with yes/no checkboxes and bonus links, and no APR ranges, terms, or minimums per lender (checked 2026-08-25, the tool page).

I am quoting rather than characterizing. The words to hold onto are "in what order," because order is the whole product of a comparison page.

Why does a flat payout make the floor the number everyone prints?

Because the payout does not change with the rate you end up paying. ELFI pays $400 whether the borrower lands at its floor or above it, and SoFi pays $120 on the same terms (checked 2026-08-25). The number that produces the most funded loans is the smallest one on the page, and that is the floor.

The floor is also the easiest number to defend, because it is true. Earnest prints fixed "4.45%" with the footnote "These are our lowest starting rates and contain our 0.25% Auto Pay discount," and publishes no top of range (checked 2026-08-25, Earnest's refinance page). A comparison page can copy that 4.45% without saying anything false.

Set the payout against the range. SoFi's fixed range runs from 3.99% to 10.99% (checked 2026-08-25). On $30,000 over 10 years, interest over the life of the loan is $6,431 at the floor and $19,570 at the ceiling, a gap of $13,138 (checked 2026-08-25). The referrer's $120 arrives either way (checked 2026-08-25). Nothing in that arrangement pays anyone to print the $19,570.

To see both ends of any range on your own balance, the calculator shows the floor and the ceiling together.

Does this mean the floor is wrong?

No. The floor is a real rate that some borrowers receive. Purefy's page says so: "Only borrowers with excellent credit and meeting other lender criteria will qualify for the lowest rate available" (checked 2026-08-25, Purefy's rates page). The floor is wrong only as a sorting key, because it ranks the widest range first.

The three-number view in the ceiling, the floor, and the gap is the antidote. Across the 24 computable products, the gap on $30,000 over 10 years runs from $3,518 to $14,443 (checked 2026-08-25). A sort by floor cannot see any of that.

What does this site do instead?

Three things, and each one is checkable. First, the formula is published. Every figure on the lender list is the interest over the life of the loan at the top of the published range, on $30,000 over 10 years. The steps are in Method, and you can redo any row by hand.

Second, the ceiling sits next to the floor on every row, with the gap between them. Earnest, ELFI, and Advantage Education Loan publish a floor only, so they are shown as floor-only and not ranked (checked 2026-08-25). What the ceiling costs in dollars is covered in what refinancing costs.

Third, there is no lead form. This site does not collect your balance or your email, and it does not pass a referral to a lender. Any affiliate link is marked, and the terms are on the Disclosure page. Those links do not change the ordering, because the ordering is the formula and nothing else.

The trade-off is that this site cannot show you the rate you would get. The marketplace model, where one form goes to several lenders, is taken apart in how marketplaces are paid and what they show.

Where the answer changes

Who this article is not for

If you already know how affiliate payouts work and want the lender figures, this article repeats what you know, and the lender list is the shorter route. It is also not for a reader whose loans are federal. Refinancing federal loans privately gives up federal repayment options, and that check belongs on studentaid.gov before any comparison page is worth your time.

Sources

How this article was made. Written by Kaz, an independent publisher. All figures come from the companies' own published documentation or regulator publications; each figure carries the date it was last checked. I have not borrowed from these lenders, and nothing here is a personal result. The arithmetic is shown so you can recalculate with your own numbers. Found an error? Use the contact form; corrections are logged on the Editorial policy page.

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Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from the sources' published pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.