Reading the interest at the ceiling column

Every row on the lender list is the same five facts: the published range, the interest at its top on $30,000 over 10 years, the gap to the floor, the minimum loan, and the fee disclosure. Where a cell says n/a or "no ceiling", the lender's page did not give enough to compute (checked 2026-08-25).

What does each column on the lender list hold?

Five facts copied or computed from the lender's own rates page. The lender list has 22 rows for the United States: 15 direct lenders and 7 marketplaces (checked 2026-08-25). After the name and type come five columns.

The published range is the lender's fixed range as printed, with a label on the autopay basis. The interest at the ceiling is the interest over the life of a $30,000 loan over 10 years at the top of that range, computed with the formula on Method. The gap is that figure minus the same computation at the floor. The minimum loan is the published minimum or "not stated". The fee column says whether the lender states an origination fee amount, mentions fees without an amount, or says nothing.

What does "n/a" mean?

It means the lender does not list that term, or the balance is outside its published minimum or maximum. On a lender's own page, the per-term table runs across 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 years. Any term the lender does not list reads n/a. RISLA lists 5, 10, and 15 year terms, so its 7-year and 20-year cells read n/a (checked 2026-08-25). MEFA lists 7, 10, and 15, so its 5-year and 20-year cells do (checked 2026-08-25). The site prints n/a rather than computing a loan the lender says it does not make.

On the balance pages, the same rule removes whole rows. The $30,000 table drops any product whose published minimum is above $30,000 or whose maximum is below it. At that balance 16 products qualify, from $9,949 at Brazos Fixed to $25,874 at College Ave Fixed (checked 2026-08-25). Article 5 goes through each reason a figure can be missing.

What does "from X%, no ceiling" mean?

It means the lender publishes only a starting rate, so the interest at the top of the range cannot be computed. Three lenders on the list fall in this group: Earnest, ELFI, and Advantage Education Loan (checked 2026-08-25). Earnest's page shows fixed "4.45%" and a footnote that these are its lowest starting rates; no top of range is published (checked 2026-08-25).

For these rows the interest and gap columns show a dash rather than a number. A floor alone still tells you something: 4.45% at Earnest and 4.29% at ELFI can be set beside other lenders' floors (checked 2026-08-25). It cannot tell you the number this site sorts by. Earnest's page prints the floor, quotes the footnote, and says the ceiling is not published.

What does "rate not readable" mean?

It means this site's checker could not read the figures on the page. That is labeled as the site's limitation, not the lender's. On August 25, 2026, the count in that group was 0 (checked 2026-08-25). Pages that draw their rates with scripts were read in a browser instead; Laurel Road, Citizens, Brazos, and Yrefy each carry a note saying so.

A separate label covers lenders that show a rate only after you apply. Three rows are in that group: Nelnet Bank, PenFed, and Sparrow (checked 2026-08-25). Nelnet Bank's page states that the product is temporarily paused (checked 2026-08-25). PenFed's marketplace is powered by Sparrow, which shows personalized rates rather than a published range (checked 2026-08-25). Juno is a case of its own. It publishes ranges per partner lender with no combined range, so its interest cell is a dash (checked 2026-08-25).

What do "with autopay" and "autopay basis not stated" mean?

"With autopay" means the lender states that the printed range already includes its autopay discount. "Autopay basis not stated" means the lender's page does not say either way. Of the 24 computable products, 16 carry the first label and 8 the second (checked 2026-08-25). The 8 are Citizens Fixed and Variable, MEFA Fixed, Yrefy Fixed, Credible Fixed and Variable, and Purefy Fixed and Variable.

The labels matter because the figures are not adjusted. A range labeled "with autopay" already has a quarter point taken off, so a table that mixes the two bases compares slightly different things. The site prints the figure as published, because an adjusted figure could not be checked against the lender's page. What refinancing costs covers the discount and where it appears; article 1 explains why the ceiling is the sort key in the first place.

How do you read one lender's row?

Take Navy Federal Credit Union, which publishes a per-term table. Its row reads: published range 4.20% to 11.80% with autopay; interest at the ceiling $21,234; gap to the floor $14,443 (checked 2026-08-25). The minimum loan is not stated, and the origination fee is stated as none (checked 2026-08-25). That gap is the largest of the 24 computable products, whose gaps run from $3,518 to $14,443 with a median of $9,658 (checked 2026-08-25).

The interest figure is the site's formula applied to the top of the range (checked 2026-08-25):

Navy Federal Fixed at the ceiling, 11.80%, $30,000 over 10 years at the ceiling: $426.95 × 120 payments − $30,000 = $21,234 the gap: $21,234 − $6,791 at the floor = $14,443

Navy Federal's page adds what the list cannot fit. Its per-term table, quoted in the lender's words, runs from 4.20% to 10.50% at 5 years to 5.85% to 11.80% at 15 years (checked 2026-08-25). Below it, the site recomputes $30,000 at each term: $9,858 at 5 years, $21,234 at 10, $34,116 at 15, and n/a at 7 and 20 (checked 2026-08-25). The 11.80% ceiling is the lender's 15-year figure, so the 5-year and 10-year cells use a ceiling above what the lender prints for those terms. You can re-run any of these at your own balance in the calculator.

Where do the balance pages differ from the lender list?

Only in the balance and the extra columns. The $100,000 table applies the same formula to $100,000 over 10 years and adds the interest at the floor and the monthly payment at the ceiling. At $100,000 the 16 products run from $33,164 at Brazos Fixed to $86,248 at College Ave Fixed (checked 2026-08-25). Navy Federal Fixed sits at $70,781, with a payment of $1,423.17 a month at the ceiling (checked 2026-08-25).

The order at $100,000 matches the order at $30,000 because no published minimum or maximum falls between the two balances. That is a fact about the lenders' limits on August 25, 2026, not a rule. RISLA's $250,000 maximum, for example, would remove it at a larger balance (checked 2026-08-25).

Where the answer changes

Who this article is not for

This article explains how to read the tables. It does not say which row to pick, and it will not help anyone looking for a rating, a recommendation, or a prediction of the rate they will be offered. If you hold federal loans, refinancing them privately gives up federal repayment options; studentaid.gov is the place to confirm what those are for your loans.

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.