Earnest vs. Laurel Road Student Loan Refinancing Comparison

Earnest and Laurel Road are two frontrunners for student loan refinancing opportunities. Both lenders offer competitive interest rates for borrowers, especially those with six-figure debt.

But when comparing Earnest vs. Laurel Road, each student loan refinance lender has its own reputation among different professions and offers various benefits and loan terms that may not be available across the board.

For example, Laurel Road has no maximum loan limit. So, it's great for medical, dental and law professionals with ultra-high debt. Whereas Earnest provides a more customized approach to lending.

In this review, we’ll compare what each lender typically offers to help you decide which student loan refinancing lender is the better option for your financial situation.

Earnest vs. Laurel Road: Student loan refinancing basics

Your primary goal with student loan refinancing is to save money by finding the lowest interest rate. Earnest and Laurel Road offer similar, competitive fixed and variable rates that will benefit high debt borrowers.

But let’s look at some other important Earnest vs. Laurel Road comparisons for refinancing with each lender.

• Each lender offers loan terms ranging from 5 to 20 years.
• Earnest provides loans ranging from $5,000 to $500,000.
• Laurel Road allows refinancing loans over $500,000.
• Both refinancing lenders have no application or origination fees.

Although they have similar interest rates, loan terms and loan amounts, they have some distinct differences. For example, if you reside in Nevada, you have a clear winner — Laurel Road — because Earnest provide refinancing loans in 49 states (all states except Nevada).

Additionally, Earnest doesn’t offer variable rate loans to residents of Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee or Texas.

Who has better refinancing perks?

While you will want to use refinancing interest rates as an important deciding factor, there are many other features and perks offered by each lender that you should weigh before choosing a lender, such as the following:

	Earnest	Laurel Road
Cosigner release	Yes, automatic	Yes
Parent PLUS to adult to child	No	Yes
Credit score	680+	680+
Servicer	Earnest	Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA)

• Option to use or release a cosigner. Both lenders offer a cosigner release, but Earnest’s is automatic because it doesn’t give you the option to refinance student loans with a cosigner at this time. Instead, the cosigner will automatically be dropped, and the debt will be consolidated solely in your name.
• Ability to transfer loan to another person. Laurel Road gives your family more flexibility than Earnest by allowing you to refinance a Parent PLUS loan into your own name.
• Factors used to determine loan approval. Earnest requires a credit score minimum of 650 (without a cosigner), but the company also looks at your education, earning potential and other financial data to determine your interest rate. Laurel Road’s credit score requirement is a bit higher, and the lender uses traditional data to determine whether your loan will be approved.
• Programs to earn cash. You can earn a hefty Earnest cash-back bonus or Laurel Road refinancing bonus by using our affiliate links to refinance your student loans.

For a detailed breakdown of each lender, check out our Earnest refinance review and Laurel Road refinance review.

Laurel Road vs. Earnest comparison based on borrower feedback

We recently surveyed over 1600 Student Loan Planner® readers to better understand their experiences with the major loan refinancing lenders listed on our website.

Laurel Road and Earnest ranked in the overall top three, with Earnest taking home the silver medal and Laurel Road taking the bronze. Earnest student loan services ranked higher in terms of customer service and technology, but Laurel Road earned plenty of praise for its interactions and quick response to borrowers’ needs.

Application process comparison

Earnest’s application process may be more robust because it considers additional education and financial factors when making decisions for student loans. Part of this process requires access to your banking information, which some of our survey respondents said felt invasive.

Our survey showed that Earnest has an advantage over the Laurel Road student loan application process. Laurel Road’s application process can get dragged out, sometimes taking 30 days to get a finalized answer. Earnest’s processing time, by comparison, tends to be faster and more web-friendly.

Refinancing by profession

Earnest and Laurel Road service loans for borrowers from all income levels, but the majority of our survey respondents who refinanced their student loans with these two lenders have six-figure incomes with a large loan balance.

Our survey found that Laurel Road tends to earn more business from those in the healthcare profession, as well as borrowers in residency or fellowship for their training. One of our readers said:

“I appreciated Laurel Road's targeted approach to medical professionals. Their website was easy to navigate, and their customer service was friendly and helpful.”

Earnest took a bigger piece of the pie with borrowers in the corporate world, like lawyers and other business roles.

Which Lender Closes the Most Loans with Each Profession

	Earnest	Laurel Road
Physicians		✓
Physician assistants	✓
Dentists		✓
Physical therapists		✓
Lawyers	✓
Pharmacists	✓

Laurel Road vs Earnest: Comparable results

When it comes to physicians and physician assistants, it’s pretty much a tied ballgame. Our survey found:

• Laurel Road secured loans with 20% of the physicians that were surveyed, while 15% went with Earnest.
• Both lenders earned 29% of the physician assistants’ refinancing market.

Professions that choose Laurel Road

Laurel Road does a better job of capturing refinancing opportunities with dental and physical therapy (PT) professions:

• It refinanced loans for 37% of the dentists surveyed, while Earnest only closed 19%.
• Laurel Road offers an American Physical Therapy Association rate discount through our website, helping them to land 27% of this occupation, whereas Earnest was only able to capture 9% of PT borrowers.

Professions where Earnest is the clear winner

Earnest has a significant lead when locking down lawyers and pharmacists involved in our survey:

• 33% of surveyed lawyers chose to refinance student loans with Earnest, and only 7% chose Laurel Road.
• More than one-third (36%) of pharmacists refinanced their student loans with Earnest, while 12% went with Laurel Road.

The real question: Should you refinance with Earnest or Laurel Road?

Earnest and Laurel Road are both popular refinancing lenders with solid reputations and competitive interest rates. It can be difficult to determine which lender is the best choice, especially when they offer similar benefits.

Here are a few scenarios that may help you choose a lender based on your unique situation.

• If you have six figures’ worth of debt, both lenders are great options. We recommend checking fixed and variable rates with at least three lenders before moving forward with refinancing your student loans. Both of these lenders should be at the top of your research list if you’re carrying a loan amount over $100,000, but Laurel Road tends to be more powerful for ultra-high debt over $500,000.
• If you live in Nevada, Laurel Road wins. Unlike Earnest, Laurel Road offers refinancing to residents of all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
• If you’re a Parent PLUS borrower, Laurel Road wins again. Earnest doesn’t offer the option to transfer your parent’s loan to your name yet, but Laurel Road can help you make the transfer.
• If you want to customize your monthly payment, Earnest has more flexible terms. Earnest uses its Precision Pricing tool to match your rate and term based on how much you can afford to pay each month, which means you can choose an unusual loan term, like 10.5 years, if it better fits your needs than a standard term of 10 or 20 years.
• If you’ve received rates from multiple lenders, Laurel Road may match it. Laurel Road tends to do a better job of matching rates from other lenders than Earnest.

Interested in seeing how each of these lenders stacks up against their competition? Check out our refinancing comparison: SoFi® vs. Earnest.