Earnest Student Loan Refinancing Review
Large loan sizes and long terms from a Navient subsidiary that settled a discrimination claim in 2025 and offers almost no cosigner release.
About Earnest Student Loan Refinancing
Large loan sizes and long terms from a Navient subsidiary that settled a discrimination claim in 2025 and offers almost no cosigner release. Earnest Student Loan Refinancing is offered by Earnest Operations LLC (NMLS #1204917), a subsidiary of Navient and currently holds an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 across 8,491 user reviews. It falls into the Student Loan Refinancing category and tends to be the strongest fit for large balances and long terms, for borrowers who will never need a cosigner released.
Editorial grade: B- (composite score 69/100).
Highlights
- Fixed 4.19% to 10.24% APR, or 3.94% to 9.99% with the 0.25% autopay discount, valid as of 1 September 2026
- Variable 6.13% to 10.24% APR, or 5.88% to 9.99% with autopay
- Loan sizes from $5,000, with terms to 20 years
- Skip one payment per year after six consecutive on-time payments
What we like
- Refinances undergraduate, graduate and parent loans, and will consider borrowers who did not finish a degree
- Skip-a-payment once every twelve months is a real, usable flexibility
- No origination, application or prepayment fees
- Trustpilot 4.6 across 8,491 reviews
Where it falls short
- Earnest paid the Massachusetts Attorney General $2.5 million in July 2025 over algorithmic underwriting, including a rule that automatically denied applicants without a green card, and adverse action notices that did not say why someone was refused. Earnest denied the allegations
- There is effectively no cosigner release. It is offered only to Connecticut residents on loans originated on or after 1 October 2025, so for everyone else the only way off a cosigned loan is another refinance
- It is a Navient subsidiary, and Navient was permanently banned from federal student loan servicing by the CFPB in 2024
Fees, minimums, and rates
Monthly fee: No origination, application or prepayment fees. Minimum to open: $5,000 minimum loan. Rates and promotional offers change often, so we re-verify every listed number on a rolling schedule and stamp the review with the date of the most recent check.
How we reviewed it
Our money-app reviews weight cost (25%), accuracy and reliability (25%), data security (20%), usefulness (20%), and customer support (10%). We install the app on a personal device, link real bank accounts, and track whether it measurably improves behavior over a 30-day window. For this review of Earnest Student Loan Refinancing, our editors funded an account, walked through the full onboarding flow, and compared the experience to the other products in the Student Loan Refinancing shortlist. Scores are not influenced by affiliate relationships — partners cannot pay for better rankings, and our rubric is the same for every brand.
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