Marketplace (partner lenders) · United States

LendKey student loan refinance rates: the interest at the top of the range

LendKey publishes a fixed range of 3.98% to 9.24% APR. At the top of that range, a $30,000 loan over 10 years costs $16,072 in interest over its life; at the bottom, $6,414. The gap between the two is $9,658.

The published range already includes the lender's autopay discount of 0.25 points, so without autopay the rate is higher than the range.

What does the lender publish?

LendKey publishes the products below on its own rates page; the last column quotes the conditions in the lender's words.

Source: LendKey rates page. checked 2026-08-25
ProductPublished APR rangeTermsMinimum loanOrigination feeInterest at the ceiling, $30,000 over 10 yearsGap to the floorAs published
Fixed3.98% to 9.24% with autopaynot stated$5,000none$16,072$9,658"3.98% - 9.24% Fixed APR". "*Rates shown include 0.25% autopay discount." "Choose from 5 to 20-year terms" (specific terms not listed). Min $5,000; "$10,001 in Arizona, $50,001 in Connecticut, $6,001 in Massachusetts". Bachelor's degree required. "No origination fees, no application fees, and no prepayment penalties".
Variable4.19% to 9.24% with autopaynot stated$5,000none$16,072$9,298"4.19% - 9.24% Variable APR". "*Rates shown include 0.25% autopay discount."

Lenders do not publish on the same basis.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.

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Ownership: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-08-25).

Repayment terms offered: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-08-25).

Maximum loan: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-08-25).

Variable-rate cap: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-08-25).

How does the term change the interest?

The table re-computes a $30,000 loan at each repayment term the lender lists, at both ends of the published range.

Interest paid over the life of a $30,000 loan, by repayment term, at the top and the bottom of the published range. “n/a” means the lender does not list that term, or the balance is outside its published minimum or maximum. checked 2026-08-25
Product5 years7 years10 years15 years20 years
Fixed, at the ceiling$7,575$10,852$16,072$25,544$35,896
Fixed, at the floor$3,133$4,422$6,414$9,889$13,555
Variable, at the ceiling$7,575$10,852$16,072$25,544$35,896
Variable, at the floor$3,304$4,666$6,774$10,459$14,355

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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.

Is there an origination fee?

LendKey states its origination fee, or states that there is none. checked 2026-08-25

An origination fee that the lender states is added to the interest figure once. Late fees, returned-payment fees and anything charged only in some states are not, because the rates page does not price them for a given borrower.

Who makes the loan?

Who owns or funds this lender is not stated on its own site in a form we could confirm from a primary source. We have left it blank rather than repeat what other sites say.

Where this leaves you

Who this page is not for

This is not a review. We have not borrowed from LendKey, we hold no opinion on its service or its underwriting, and nothing here is a recommendation or a rate you will be offered. It answers one question: what the published range turns into in dollars over the life of the loan.

Sources

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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.