1. Credible - Credible is a marketplace of student loan lenders that has some options you may not be able to find anywhere else. You can also get up to a $1,000 gift card bonus if you refinance through their platform. You can get variable rates as low as 3.59% APR. Read our full Credible review.

2. Earnest - Earnest is one of the best known online student loan lenders and they have been offering consistently competitive rates for years. Right now, you can get the lowest fixed rate APR at 3.90%. Read our full Earnest student loans review.

3. ELFI - ELFI is one of the oldest student loan lenders, and offers competitive rates, along with a bonus offer of up to $599 if you refinance a student loan with them. You can get rates as low as 4.29% APR. Read our full ELFI Student Loans Review.

4. LendKey - LendKey is a private lender that pools money from community banks and credit unions to offer lower rate student loans. They are also offering up to a $750 bonus if you refinance a student loan. You can get rates as low as 4.19% APR. Read our full LendKey review.

5. Splash - Splash is a student loan marketplace as well that offers some lenders that Credible doesn't.They have a fixed rate offer starting at 3.99% APR. Furthermore, you can up to a $500 bonus if you refinance with Splash. Read our full Splash Student Loans review.

You can find a full list of the best student loan refinance lenders here >>

Why Should You Refinance Your Student Loan?

Refinancing replaces one or more existing loans with a new private loan — ideally at a lower interest rate.

Borrowers typically refinance to:

• Reduce their monthly payments
• Lower their overall interest cost
• Combine multiple loans into one
• Shorten or extend repayment terms

Refinancing can make sense for private loan borrowers or federal borrowers who no longer need federal benefits such as income-driven repayment or forgiveness. Remember, refinancing a federal loan will cause you to lose federal benefits like student loan forgiveness!

For example, refinancing a $60,000 loan from 7.50% to 5.50% over 10 years saves roughly $7,000 in interest.

Fixed vs. Variable Rates: Which Should You Choose?

There's a lot of uncertainty that borrowers don't like with variable rates, which can make sense, but in a declining rate environment, it also opens the potential for future savings. Here's what to know:

• Fixed rates stay the same for the life of the loan, offering predictable monthly payments. They’re better for borrowers who plan to repay over many years.
• Variable rates can change with market conditions, starting lower but carrying risk if the Fed raises rates again. They can make sense for borrowers who expect to pay off loans quickly.

Most private lenders allow you to check rates without affecting your credit score. Always compare both options before signing.

What To Know Before Refinancing

Before refinancing your student loans, make sure you understand exactly what you're signing up for.

• Loss of federal benefits: Once refinanced, federal loans are no longer eligible for PSLF, IBR, or other income-driven plans.
• Cosigner options: A creditworthy cosigner can unlock lower rates. Check if the lender offers cosigner release after a set number of on-time payments.
• Term flexibility: Many lenders allow terms from 5 to 20 years; shorter terms usually mean lower rates.
• Autopay discounts: Most lenders offer a 0.25% rate reduction when you enroll in automatic payments.
• Fees: The best refinance lenders charge no origination fees or prepayment penalties.

How We Track And Verify Student Loan Rates

At The College Investor, our editorial team reviews student loan rates daily from more than a dozen major lenders. We verify data using official lender disclosures, regulatory filings, and real-time rate sheets.

We only include lenders offering loans to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. All rates are updated regularly and represent the lowest available APRs with autopay discounts applied.

Our coverage is independent and not influenced by compensation. While we may earn a referral fee when you open a loan through certain links, this never affects our editorial recommendations. Our goal is simple: to help you find the most affordable path to borrow responsibly.

FAQs

Can you refinance federal student loans?

Yes, but doing so converts them into private loans, meaning you’ll lose access to forgiveness and income-driven plans.

How often can you refinance?

There’s no limit - you can refinance multiple times as long as you qualify for better terms.

Does refinancing hurt your credit?

A small, temporary drop in your credit score may occur after the hard inquiry, but steady payments improve your score over time.

Do refinance rates change daily?

Yes, lenders adjust rates frequently based on market conditions and Treasury yields.

Is there a best time to refinance?

The best time is when your credit and income qualify you for significantly better rates than your current loans.

A pledged asset line or portfolio line of credit allow you to borrow against the value of your investment portfolio, typically at a low rate.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make better use of money tied in your investment portfolio? Maybe for an emergency or to pay down a high-interest credit card?

After all, the money is sitting there waiting for investments to appreciate or collecting dividends from investments.

But to access that capital, you’ll have to close out of your investments. That’s basically your only option. Closing out of your investments, depending on what they are valued at, could mean realizing a loss or a short-term gain and the tax consequences that go along with it.

However, there are better alternatives. It's called using a margin loan, or using margin to access a portfolio line of credit.

Our favorite brokerage for a portfolio line of credit is Interactive Brokers. Interactive Brokers allows you to borrow against your investments without closing your positions (as do some other firms). Sure, you could make a loan or use other lending alternatives. But, using a portfolio line of credit can be smart due to the low interest.

See the typical interest of the alternatives:

• Credit Cards: 22.93% APR
• Student Loan: 7.05% APR
• HELOC: 8.5% APR
• Auto Loan: 7.1% to 11.30% APR
• Mortgage: 7.50% APR

With IBKR, you can borrow against your portfolio as low as 4.390% APR. That's compelling - so let's look at what using a portfolio line of credit looks like, why you would want to, and how to do it.

What Is A Margin Portfolio Line Of Credit

A portfolio line of credit is a type of margin loan that lets investors borrow against their stock portfolio at a low interest rate. The idea is that the loan is collateralized by your stock positions. 

With that money, you can use your line of credit to pay for anything really - from home improvement, to paying down other debt, and more.

If you have a large amount of money tied up in your portfolio (maybe through your own investing, or you received stocks as part of an IPO), you may not want to sell your positions if you need cash. That's where the portfolio line of credit comes in. You can simply borrow against your positions, without having to sell.

Furthermore, by not having to sell your positions, you also can avoid taxes - which if you have highly appreciated stock, can be huge.

You're allowed to borrow up to 50% to purchase securities, and each broker has different levels for borrowing cash. For example,  M1 Finance allows you to borrow up to 35% of your portfolio as a Portfolio Line of Credit. The other cool thing is that there is no set repayment period. Your loan accrues interest, but you can pay it back anytime - either through a cash deposit or by actually selling some securities and using that cash.

What Are The Risks Of Borrowing From Your Portfolio

It's important to realize that there are risks involved in a margin loan - just like any other type of debt.

There are three main risks when it comes to a margin loan or portfolio line of credit.

First, if you use the money to invest, you could lose the money (and as a result, your losses are magnified). 

Second, interest rates on the loan could change. Right now, we're at historical lows for interest, but rates could rise in the future. Theoretically, they could also go down as well - which would be a small win.

Finally, you could be subject to a maintenance call. If your portfolio value declines, your account can trigger a maintenance call and you either have to deposit new cash or sell a portion of your portfolio to cover the loan. While you'll usually be notified of the need to deposit extra money, if your portfolio experiences significant losses, the brokerage may sell your stocks automatically to cover the loan (due to being legally required to).

What Are The Best Use Cases

There are a few use cases where we see using a portfolio line of credit as making a lot of sense. These use cases do rely on you having a solid portfolio position (likely at least $100,000 or more), and most of the portfolio is highly appreciated stocks - meaning you don't want to sell them.

Plus, we're also working under the assumption that you can afford the loan whether or not it's a margin loan.

Debt Consolidation: If you have other debt (such as credit cards), it could make a lot of sense to consolidate your debt into a margin loan. You would likely save huge amounts in interest - since the best margin loans are at 6% or less, while credit cards are double-digits. 

Auto Financing: If you need to purchase a new car, using a margin loan could make sense. The rates are likely lower than you could get for a purchase.

Home Improvement: If you're looking to do a renovation or addition, it could make sense to use a portfolio line of credit instead of a HELOC. Especially if you don't have enough equity in your home do justify a HELOC.

We don't like using a margin loan to purchase more stocks. Yes, it can magnify your returns, but it can also magnify your losses as well - and that can hurt financially.

Where To Find The Best Margin Loans

Most of the major stock brokers offer margin loans or portfolio lines of credit. However, we strongly thing that M1 Finance is the best place to get a margin loan right now.

Robinhood

Yes, Robinhood. In Robinhood's growing battle to attract high net worth investors, they recently launched a competitive margin product that has some of the lowest rates available currently.

When you combine these attractive margin rates with their bonus incentives for bringing assets to the platform, Robinhood has a compelling offer.

You can read our full Robinhood review here.

Open an account at Robinhood here >>

Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

Interactive Brokers is a platform geared towards higher net worth and/or more active traders. In addition to a solid trading platform, IBKR is known for their highly competitive margin loans and portfolio lines of credit. In fact, they are typically better than most "large" or "traditional" brokerage firms.

The minimum floor on IBKR loans is 4.120%, but most loans will see rates around 5.120%, depending on the balance and amount of assets at the firm. The lowest currently advertised rate of 4.120% is for over $50,000,000 in assets. But even having $100,000 or less can get you 5.120% (or the BM + 2.50%).

The great thing about IBKR is that you don't have to negotiate or fight for a great rate - simply deposit the assets and borrow. This is unlike the Fidelity or Schwab's, where you can sometimes get a great rate, but it requires negotiation and approval.

You can read our full Interactive Brokers review here.

Open an account at Interactive Brokers here >>

Pledged Asset Line Rates

M1 Finance and IBKR consistently fight for the lowest rates. But Robinhood is also in the chase.

Here's how other companies compare (Note: many companies have smaller tiers, so we tried to pick the most common rounded numbers to make the chart legible): 

Note: These rates were last updated on June 4, 2026

Remember, portfolio loan rates are closely tied to the Fed Funds Rate. As it rises and falls, so will the loan rates posted.

Is Using A Portfolio Line Of Credit Worth It?

If you believe that borrowing against your investments is something you need, then M1 Finance, with its low lending rates, is a good deal. It can be a better option than a credit card, auto loan, or HELOC, and it has several benefits from a tax perspective.

Just be careful not to push your brokerage account into a maintenance call as that can result in your holdings being liquidated to satisfy the call. That would not just be annoying, but potentially costly.

Over the past several weeks we've heard multiple reports from graduate students about financial aid delays and miscommunication as they start summer classes. For medical, dental, and veterinary schools that start as early as May, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) changes are causing delays and chaos.

One student reported that they received an inaccurate notice claiming they hit the updated graduate borrowing limits, while another was experiencing delayed loan disbursements. The result is fear, uncertainty, and in the case of delayed disbursements, true financial risk as many graduate students rely on their student loans to pay rent, buy food, and more.

Here's what's happening.

A Compressed Timeline Created a National Bottleneck

The OBBBA made the largest set of changes to federal graduate borrowing in two decades. Grad PLUS loans will no longer be available to new borrowers as of July 1, 2026. A new $50,000 annual cap and $200,000 lifetime cap apply to professional programs including medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Graduate programs face a $100,000 lifetime cap, with only $20,500 per year limits.

The current problems aren't with the policy itself - it's the timeline schools were given to implement it.

"We're seeing the repercussions of the short timelines to implement the rules from OBBBA," said Karen McCarthy, vice president for public policy and federal relations at NASFAA. "Usually we have eight months — we'd have final rules by November 1 for a July 1 effective date. But this year was May 19, six weeks before July."

McCarthy added: "In some cases, there were students already enrolled in [graduate] programs, but we didn't even have the final rules yet. So schools couldn't even apply them."

Looking at the behind the scenes logistics, financial aid offices (and their technology vendors) have less than six weeks to rebuild systems, train staff, and create financial aid awards for hundreds of thousands of returning and incoming graduate students

Grandfathered Grad PLUS Students And Incorrect Caps

Some graduate students are being incorrectly flagged as being capped on graduate borrowing, despite being grandfathered in. 

On April 26, ED launched updates to the FAFSA Partner Portal, the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System to implement OBBBA. The agency added a new "Loan Limit Exception" flag designed to identify borrowers grandfathered into pre-OBBBA limits.

However, by ED's own admission, that flag did not populate immediately. In an electronic announcement, Federal Student Aid stated the field would "display a null value" until NSLDS received a confirmation file from COD. NSLDS post-screening was paused for a week and did not resume until the weekend of May 3.

Any school pulling a student's NSLDS record during that window (or running financial aid software that referenced stale data) could see a grandfathered borrower appear as subject to the new caps. Schools with automated settings may have automatically sent notices, even when the student qualifies for the exception.

Why Early Loan Disbursements Have Been Impacted

Medical, dental, and veterinary schools usually start with a "summer header" semester - an academic year that begins in May or June.

However, because of these system updates, colleges were not able to submit loan documents and disbursement requests. The result is, student have been enrolled in school, but the college is still waiting on the loan disbursement.

For graduate students, this has a real impact. Many rely on financial aid refunds to cover qualifying non-direct expenses like rent, food, and supplies. Inside Higher Ed reported that UCLA's dental and medical schools committed to emergency funding for students caught in the gap. 

For health professional graduate students, the cash crunch is immediate. First-year supply costs (stethoscopes, instruments, scrubs, textbooks, dissection kits, and required technology) can run $1,500 to $4,000 before classes begin. When loan disbursements miss the orientation window by even two weeks, students who budgeted around the federal disbursement schedule have to put supplies on credit cards or pull from emergency savings.

What This Means For Graduate Students

For households planning around graduate or professional school borrowing this year, the impact is real. Financial aid notifications may not reflect a student's actual borrowing eligibility. Disbursement timing may slip past tuition due dates, supply purchase windows, or move-in dates. Students may need to cover short-term costs out of pocket or through emergency lending.

McCarthy urged schools to absorb some of the strain rather than pass it to students: "Schools can help their students by not assessing late fees."

She was clearer on the undergraduate side. "For the undergraduate season, I don't see any major systemic problems. Everyone is playing catch-up, so the summer will be very, very busy."

Undergraduate borrowers should still not assume their accounts are immune. The same FAFSA updates power undergraduate aid, and manual workarounds increase the chance of errors anywhere in the system.

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Moving off campus is a milestone — a real lease, a real apartment, and a real pile of belongings that didn’t come from the dorm-supply aisle. What often gets skipped in the move is renters insurance. Skipping it can turn a routine break-in, kitchen fire, or burst pipe into a financial setback that takes years to recover from.

Here’s how off-campus students (and the parents helping them figure it out) should think about renters insurance, what it actually covers, and why Lemonade has become a popular choice for this specific situation.

In partnership with Lemonade, let’s break down what families need to know as they transition out of the dorms and into their first apartments. Get a quote here >>

The Coverage Gap Most Families Don’t Realize Exists

When a student lives in a dorm, many families buy specialized dorm room renters insurance policies. These cover the dorm, as well as personal belongings.

Once they’re renting an apartment, townhouse, or room in a shared house, the student needs their own renters insurance policy. This catches a lot of families off guard, especially during sophomore or junior year, when a student moves out of the dorm without changing anything else about how the family’s insurance is structured.

Why Off-Campus Students Actually Need It

The risk isn’t hypothetical. The U.S. Department of Education recorded 6,500 burglaries on college campuses in 2021, and theft and burglary together account for about 44% of campus criminal activity. Off-campus units tend to carry more exposure than dorms, including ground-floor windows, shared entryways, roommate turnover, and less security infrastructure.

Theft isn’t even the most common claim. Among college-student renters, the most reported losses are fire or severe weather (31%), accidental water damage (31%), vandalism (22%), and theft (17%). A clogged sink, an overloaded power strip, or a kitchen towel too close to the stove can wipe out a laptop, a TV, and a year’s worth of textbooks in an afternoon.

Survey data from Insurify shows 36% of college students say they can’t afford to replace their belongings without renters in

What Renters Insurance Covers

A standard policy has three main parts:

1. Personal property protects the items inside the apartment, such as a laptop, phone, bike, clothes, furniture, gaming setup. Most off-campus students do well with $15,000 to $25,000 in coverage.
2. Personal liability covers the student if a guest gets hurt in the apartment, or if they accidentally damage someone else’s property. $100,000 to $300,000 is standard.
3. Loss of use pays for somewhere to live if the apartment becomes uninhabitable after a covered event like a fire or major water damage.

Most policies also include medical payments to others and optional add-ons for high-value items like cameras, instruments, or jewelry.

You can compare Lemonade options here >>

What It Costs

Renters insurance is one of the cheapest pieces of financial protection a young adult can buy. The average for a college student renters insurance policy runs about $21.95 a month, or roughly $263 a year, according to Insurify.

Lemonade starts as low as $5 per month, depending on the state and the student’s situation, and the company says its policies run about 30% less than typical renters insurance. The basic tier includes $10,000 in personal property coverage, with the option to scale up to the $15K–$25K range most off-campus students need.

Put another way: protecting more than $15,000 worth of belongings costs less than a single takeout dinner per month.

Why Lemonade Works For Young Adults

A few reasons Lemonade has caught on with student renters:

You can get a quote in about 90 seconds on your phone, and policies can bind the same day — no agent appointment, no paper forms.

Claims happen in the app. Lemonade says roughly 40% of claims are handled instantly and claims are paid out fast thanks to its AI technology, which matters when a student needs to replace a stolen laptop before midterms, not three weeks after.

It’s purpose-built for off-campus renters. Lemonade does not write dorm policies, so the product is specifically designed for students renting their own place.

Pricing is transparent. Premium, coverage limits, and deductible are all shown before the student commits.

How Students And Parents Should Think About This Decision

The choice usually comes down to two questions:

What would it cost to replace everything in the apartment from scratch? Walk the unit and add up the laptop, phone, bike, TV, clothes, kitchen gear, textbooks, and furniture. The number is almost always over $10,000.

What happens if a guest gets hurt or the student accidentally causes damage to the building? Without liability coverage, the student (or the parents, depending on the lease) could be on the hook for medical bills or repair costs.

For most off-campus students, the math is simple: as little as a $5 monthly premium against a potential five-figure loss. Renters insurance is one of the few financial products where the cost-to-protection ratio sits firmly on the buyer’s side.

Check out Lemonade here and get started >>

Investors are always looking for the best stock research tools to help give them a leg-up in finding trades.

Investing in stocks can be straightforward, and easy. With limited knowledge, you can be a successful investor by investing in index funds or use a robo-advisor.

However, some people want to invest at least a portion of their portfolio in individual stocks, for different reasons. 

Whatever your reason, investing in individual stocks requires that you do some research. We’ve identified the best stock research tools so that you can invest with confidence backed by knowledge.

Investing Blogs

Investing blogs can be a great source of inspiration, education, and investment ideas. The blogs on our “best of” list typically don’t offer in-depth analysis of individual stocks. Instead, they provide information to support different investment theses. If you’re interested in becoming a thoughtful investor, following a few different blogs can help you develop an investor’s mindset and sharpen your investment tool kit.

Here are just a few of the top investing blogs right now: 

• A Wealth Of Common Sense
• Abnormal Returns
• Financial Mentor
• Mad Fientist
• The White Coat Investor

Online Brokers

Often, the best place for you to get information about stocks is from your online brokerage company. Online brokers typically offer free quantitative and qualitative information about stocks you own or on your watchlist.

When it comes to stock-related research, these are our three favorite online brokers: 

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab offers daily market reports, equity research from major analyst organizations, and screening tools that are available through the website. Despite being one of the oldest brokerages, Charles Schwab continues to offer incredible research tools both online and through more traditional mediums (offices, magazines, newsletters, etc.).

Learn more in our full review of Charles Schwab. 

Fidelity

With charts, articles, and news, Fidelity gives you access to the information you need with almost no friction. You can also find analyst opinions and other information on the site, making it easy to research anything on your watchlist.

Learn more in our full review of Fidelity Investments. 

Robinhood

Although Robinhood has made it easy to make investment errors (like overtrading or trading on margin), it places a lot of stock information at your fingertips. You can get news, research reports, and charts for stocks on your watchlist. We like the clean interface and the fact that everything is available for free. 

Learn more in our full review of Robinhood. 

Motley Fool

Motley Fool has created a unique community of individual stock investors. The company provides deep stock recommendations and comprehensive research used to back up its recommendations. Motley Fool recommends that stock owners should typically hold a stock for at least five years, and it emphasizes discipline in holding winners and eventually cutting losers. It boasts plenty of prescient stock picks (including Nvidia as long ago as 2008).

Following Motley Fool’s advice may not always be right for you, but the research is some of the best in the business. It’s especially important if you’re trying to understand why a business is likely to under or over-perform over the long haul.

Learn more in our full Motley Fool review. 

Moby

Moby has been growing in popularity as a stock research platform because of their easy to use insights and tracking. Plus, many social media influencers have been using Moby as a basis for their own research, which shows how others are using it.

One of the best things about Moby is how it sources news, insights, and more and gives you the information without all the jargon.

Read our full Moby review here.

Morningstar

Morningstar is a research site designed for fundamental investors. You won’t get hot tips about day trading. Instead, the site provides commentary about stocks including whether a stock is appropriately priced relative to its value, the sustainability of its economic advantages, and more.

It also offers portfolio-level analysis to keep your overall portfolio in check. Morningstar is one of the most respected names in investment research, and you can expect high-quality information that will help you weigh both potential benefits and potential risks.

Learn more in our full review of Morningstar. 

Be Careful Where You Get Your Information

There’s no shortage of investment information online, but not every source is equally valuable. Before you start using a new website for your stock research, take time to vet it thoroughly. Subscription-based sites should provide an accurate representation of the type of information featured on the site, and you can decide if that fits your needs. If a site doesn’t offer research that will help you with your investment goals, skip the subscription.

Additionally, you’ll want to avoid over-subscribing to investment sites. Most people only need one or two investment research subscriptions to help them achieve their goals. Too much information is likely to lead to over-trading or analysis paralysis.

If the site is an anonymous internet forum, consider it a site for new ideas, not a source for authoritative and accurate investment advice. All research should be considered with a dash of salt, but information from anonymous forums should be considered with a few shakes from the salt shaker.