Where to Find North Carolina Student Loan Refinancing and Private Student Loan Options

North Carolina is home to hundreds of miles of beautiful coastlines and top-notch schools like Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University.

Although the state has many colleges and universities to choose from, the cost of higher education, in general, has left many students with debt that will take years, if not decades, to pay off.

According to the Institute for College Access & Success, students at North Carolina four-year colleges graduated with an average student debt of $26,583 in 2019. 

But many students carry much larger debt balances due to greater financial need or the pursuit of graduate or professional degrees.

Fortunately, borrowers with North Carolina student loans have a variety of options to help ease their debt burden, including refinancing and loan forgiveness. And current North Carolina students can access competitive private student loans from both local and national lenders.

Here’s where to find the top North Carolina student loan refinance opportunities and some private student loan options for North Carolina students and residents.

North Carolina student loan refinance options

There are many North Carolina student loan refinance options available to borrowers both locally and nationally.

If you’d prefer to stick with a local lender, contact your credit union or local bank to see whether they offer student loan refinancing.

For example, if you meet membership requirements, Duke Federal Credit Union offers a North Carolina refinance product to explore. Your existing relationship might increase your chances for approval. You may also benefit from having a person to speak face-to-face with if issues arise in the future.

But if you’re open to exploring national lenders, you can quickly compare online refinancing offers using a platform like Credible. Or look into specific refinancing lenders that have great reputations for getting the best deal and providing good customer service.

Either way, we recommend shopping around with at least three refinancing lenders to ensure you’re getting the best offer for your situation.

We partner with some of the best student loan refinance lenders, allowing you to score an extra cash-back bonus when you use one of our affiliate links. Here’s a breakdown of two of the top lenders we recommend.

Earnest

You can read our full Earnest refinancing review for more detailed information, but here are the basic details you need to know.

• Rate type: Fixed or variable (variable rates not available in some states)
• Terms: 5 to 20 years
• Loan amounts: $5,000 ($10,000 for California residents) to $500,000
• Cosigner option: No
• Cash-back bonus: Up to $1,000 when you refinance with Earnest

Laurel Road

Laurel Road is a great refinancing option for medical professionals and parents. Check out our full Laurel Road refinancing review and compare these key details.

• Rate type: Fixed or variable
• Terms: 5, 7, 10, 15 and 20 years
• Loan amounts: $5,000 to $500,000+
• Cosigner option: Yes
• Cash-back bonus: Up to $1,050 when you refinance with Laurel Road

You can also check out refinancing lenders such as ELFI and Splash Financial.

Pros and cons of refinancing

You can lower your interest rate or monthly payment by refinancing your student loans. Depending on your situation, it could save you thousands (or tens of thousands) in interest over the life of your student loans.

However, there are some major downsides if you have existing federal student loans.

When you refinance your federal loans with a private refinancing lender, you’ll lose access to flexible Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, loan forgiveness programs and other borrower protections.

But if you have your finances in order and have confidence in your job stability, refinancing your federal student loans might offer you an advantage if you don’t plan to use these federal benefits in the future.

If you already have private North Carolina student loans, there’s no reason not to explore current refinancing offers to score a better interest rate or reduce your payment.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a new private student loan to fund your next year of education, there are a few North Carolina student loans to consider.

Where to find private North Carolina student loans

If you’ve exhausted all federal student aid opportunities — including grants, scholarships and federal student loans — you might need private student loans to help cover any remaining financial gap.

Here are some options to consider for North Carolina student loans with private lenders.

College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC)

In partnership with CFNC, College Foundation, Inc. provides two types of private student loans to North Carolina residents, as well as non-residents who attend an eligible institution in the state.

Both its NC Student Assist Loan and NC Parent Assist Loan have no application, origination or prepayment fees.

Key details of the NC Student Assist Loan include:

• Rate type: Fixed
• Terms: 10 years
• Loan amounts: Up to school’s cost of attendance (COA) minus other financial aid received. Aggregate limit is $120,000 for undergraduates and $200,000 for graduate students.
• Cosigner option: Yes
• In-school repayment options: No payments until six-month grace period is complete. Option to make interest-only payments while in school.

It also offers the NC Parent Assist Loan which provides the following benefits to parents of eligible students, including biological parents, adoptive parents or stepparents.

• Rate type: Fixed
• Terms: 10 years
• Loan amounts: $1,000 up to COA minus other financial aid received. Aggregate loan limit is $120,000.
• In-school repayment options: Payments begin immediately after final disbursement and require a $50 minimum monthly payment.

National private student loan lenders

You can also tap into private student loan lenders that serve borrowers nationwide. As with refinancing, we recommend you shop around with multiple private lenders.

And always read the fine print to understand if you’re signing up for any loan fees (e.g. origination fee) that could increase your overall costs.

We partner with the following private student loan lenders which are well-known for their low interest rates and user experience.

• Sallie Mae. Best for one-stop shopping.
• Earnest. Best for fast application and approval.
• Ascent. Great for student loans without a cosigner.

Each of these lenders has earned 4.5 out of 5 stars based on our readers’ experiences and other important ranking factors.

Plan ahead for your North Carolina student loans

North Carolina students and residents can explore various loan forgiveness programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and IDR forgiveness.

Qualifying borrowers might also have access to forgiveness programs specific to North Carolina like:

• North Carolina State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). This program is specific to behavioral health providers who provide primary and psychiatric care to people in rural and underserved areas.
• North Carolina Legal Education Assistance Foundation (NC LEAF). This program provides repayment assistance to eligible attorneys (e.g. prosecutors, public defenders and legal services providers).
• Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Cancellation. These programs are targeted to attract and retain teachers in low-income schools in North Carolina.

If you have existing North Carolina student loans, we can provide you with the best strategy to maximize student loan forgiveness or pay off your student debt. Schedule a consultation today.

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