Credible is an online lending marketplace specializing in a range of products including private student loans. It shows real pre-qualified rates for loans that are available to you, without any impact to your credit score. Most importantly, it lets you see a side-by-side cost breakdown of each lender, making it easy for you to compare.
Loan types: Undergraduate, graduate, professional degrees
APRs: Variable rates start from 4.98%, fixed rates start from 4.42%
Repayment terms: 5-20 years
Loan amount: Up to 100% of cost of attendance
Origination fees: No
Credible is 100% free to use. It only makes money when you take a loan from one of its partnering lenders. Credible works with many of America’s best student lenders, giving it the ability to offer loans as low as 4.42% for fixed or variable-rate loans. The Credible business model is very simple: it taps into the multiple lenders in its network, who all compete to offer you the best rate. Credible only works with vetted lenders and guarantees that none of its lenders will charge you origination fees.
The typical Credible partner offers a choice of 3-4 repayment terms ranging from 5-20 years. Most Credible partnering student lenders offer flexible repayment options while you’re still in school. These typically include:
All Credible partners offer a 0.25% rate discount for using autopay to make monthly payments. Aside from that, the discounts and rewards vary. Some partnering lenders offer cash back upon graduation, some offer prizes and giveaways, and some offer free educational tools to help you with your studies. Discounts and rewards vary from lender to lender, which is why it’s useful using Credible to compare top lenders side-by-side.
It takes only 3 minutes to fill out the Credible online form and compare rates from multiple student lenders. Like other marketplaces, these are pre-qualified rates and are subject to change by the lender. After you get and choose a pre-qualified rate, you will be redirected to the lender’s home page, where you may be asked to fill out additional information. This takes about 10 minutes on average, after which the lender will conduct a hard credit inquiry. If all goes well, the final step is for the lender to confirm your details with your school, which can take anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks (this is the same for all lenders).
Typically, students must be enrolled at least part-time in an educational program order to be eligible for a loan from a Credible partner. Your or your co-signer’s credit score is the other important factor in getting approved for a student loan. International students are eligible to use the Credible service. However, they must provide a US address and apply with a creditworthy co-signer who is either a US citizen or permanent resident.
About 85% of Credible private student loan prospective borrowers apply with a co-signer. Co-signer release rules vary from lender to lender. For example, some Credible partners offer a co-signer release option within two years of graduation, while others only offer this option after half the repayment term has elapsed.
Credible offers live chat and phone support from Mon-Thu, 6am – 6pm, Fri, 6am – 4pm, and Sat-Sun, 7am – 4pm (all Pacific time). The phone number is 866-540-6005. According to Credible, it offers free expert assistance and can even set up three-way phone calls between you and prospective lenders.
Credible was founded in San Francisco in 2012 with the goal of empowering borrowers to take control of their finances. It helps users compare rates from multiple lenders for various loan products including student loans, student loan refinancing, personal loans, home loans, mortgage refinancing, credit cards. Over its history, Credible has helped more than 1.4 million users compare prequalified rates for a variety of loan products.
With so many student loan providers out there, it’s hard to know where to begin. Credible takes advantage of this situation, encouraging its top lending partners to compete to offer you their best rates. The result: Credible can help you obtain great offers from some of America’s best lenders, in minutes, without any impact to your credit score.