Direct lender · United States

United States student loan refinance, direct lender, on a $10,000 balance, by interest at the ceiling

On $10,000 over 10 years, the 16 published ranges we hold run from $3,316 to $8,625 in interest at the top of the range.

The lowest ceiling is Brazos Fixed at $3,316, from a published range of 3.99% to 5.99%.

At this balance, in order

The table drops any product whose published minimum is above $10,000 or whose maximum is below it, and adds a stated origination fee once.

Every published product we hold that lists a $10,000 balance and a 10-year term as available, ordered by interest at the top of the range. Ties are broken by the top-of-range APR, then alphabetically. Nothing else affects the order, and no position on this page is for sale. 16 products, checked 2026-09-18.
Lender and product	Published range	Minimum loan	Origination fee	Interest at the ceiling	Interest at the floor	Monthly payment at the ceiling
Brazos Fixed	3.99% to 5.99% with autopay	—	none	$3,316	$2,144	$111
Yrefy Fixed	0.10% to 5.99% autopay basis not stated	—	not stated	$3,316	$50	$111
RISLA Fixed	3.49% to 7.64% with autopay	$7,500	none	$4,332	$1,861	$119
MEFA Fixed	6.20% to 8.99% autopay basis not stated	$10,000	not stated	$5,195	$3,443	$127
ISL Education Lending Fixed	5.15% to 9.40% with autopay	$5,000	none	$5,462	$2,816	$129
Laurel Road Fixed	4.74% to 9.75% with autopay	$5,000	none	$5,692	$2,576	$131
INvestEd Fixed	5.41% to 9.88% with autopay	$5,000	not stated	$5,778	$2,970	$131
Laurel Road Variable	5.04% to 10.05% with autopay	$5,000	none	$5,891	$2,751	$132
Citizens Fixed	5.90% to 10.65% autopay basis not stated	$10,000	not stated	$6,293	$3,262	$136
INvestEd Variable	6.53% to 10.67% with autopay	$5,000	not stated	$6,307	$3,644	$136
Citizens Variable	5.91% to 10.92% autopay basis not stated	$10,000	not stated	$6,476	$3,268	$137
SoFi Fixed	3.99% to 10.99% with autopay	—	none	$6,523	$2,144	$138
SoFi Variable	5.74% to 10.99% with autopay	—	none	$6,523	$3,166	$138
Navy Federal Credit Union Variable	4.52% to 11.32% with autopay	—	none	$6,748	$2,448	$140
Navy Federal Credit Union Fixed	4.20% to 11.80% with autopay	—	none	$7,078	$2,264	$142
College Ave Fixed	6.99% to 13.99% with autopay	—	not stated	$8,625	$3,927	$155

This table mixes autopay bases. Lenders do not publish on the same basis. Most print the range with a 0.25 point autopay discount already taken off; some print it before the discount; some do not say. We print the figure as published and label the basis where the lender states it. We do not add or remove the discount, because a figure we adjusted could not be checked against the lender's page.

Scroll sideways on a phone.

How that is worked out

monthly rate = APR / 1200 payments = years x 12 monthly payment = balance x monthly rate / (1 - (1 + monthly rate) ^ -payments) interest over life = monthly payment x payments - balance + origination fee at the ceiling = the same, with the top of the published range at the floor = the same, with the bottom of the published range the gap = interest at the ceiling - interest at the floor

Nothing else is added. The rate you are offered, any lender-specific discount you do or do not qualify for, and variable-rate movements are not in any figure on this site, because they depend on you and on the future. Where a lender states an origination fee it is added once. The published range is used exactly as printed: where the lender says the range already includes its autopay discount, we say so and do not add it back. The full method is at Method.

Where does the answer change?

The order above holds only under these conditions.

If you are offered the bottom of the range, the order changes. At the floor the lowest is Yrefy Fixed at $50, not Brazos.
4 of these ranges do not state that autopay is already included, so their printed ceiling may be a before-discount figure; the size of any discount is not stated on those pages.
Do not decide yet if your balance is outside the published limits: Citizens starts at $10,000; Citizens stops at $300,000; RISLA starts at $7,500; RISLA stops at $250,000, so the rows on this page are not the rows at your balance. Between the limits the order holds — at $30,000 Brazos stays lowest at $9,949.

Who this is not for

This is not a list of the best lenders. It is every published range we hold that a borrower with this balance could be quoted from, in worst-case order. We have not borrowed from these lenders and we do not rate them.

Sources

Brazos rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Yrefy rates page. checked 2026-08-25
RISLA rates page. checked 2026-08-25
MEFA rates page. checked 2026-08-25
ISL Education Lending rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Laurel Road rates page. checked 2026-08-25
INvestEd rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Citizens rates page. checked 2026-08-25
SoFi rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Navy Federal Credit Union rates page. checked 2026-08-25
College Ave rates page. checked 2026-08-25

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.