How Forbes Advisor Rates Student Loans

At Forbes Advisor, we provide knowledge and research to help readers make empowered financial decisions. As part of this mission, we review student loan products to identify the best loan options for student and parent borrowers.

Each of our student loan reviews and rankings is unbiased, objective and honest. While we may work with advertising partners, our editorial team operates independently, and none of our advertising partnerships impact our scoring.

The methodology below only applies to Forbes Advisor Student Loans content.

Our editorial team uses a 100-point grading system to evaluate student loan lenders. We look at loan features within six categories and rank lenders on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest score possible. These are the six categories we review to rank lenders:

Loan Terms

	Loan terms we review We research disclosed loan repayment terms and loan amounts available to identify lenders that provide borrowers with the broadest range of education financing options.     Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: Repayment terms affect a loan’s monthly payment and long-term affordability. Lenders that offer multiple repayment terms and high loan amounts give borrowers a greater opportunity to identify a loan that fits their budget and education needs.

Eligibility

	Loan eligibility requirements we review We review eligibility conditions for student loans—such as the minimum credit score, minimum income and co-signer requirement—to determine the ease or difficulty of qualifying for a loan.     Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: Researching eligibility requirements helps us determine how accessible a student loan is, what credentials you need to qualify and who the loan is best for.

Hardship Options

	Hardship options we review We review programs lenders offer to support borrowers who have trouble making student loan payments. These programs may include student loan deferment, forbearance or other payment arrangements.   Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: Hardship programs can provide much-needed payment relief for student and parent borrowers during periods of financial difficulty.

Interest Rates

	Interest rates we review  We review variable and fixed interest rates across lenders. Student loan lenders typically represent loan interest rates as an annual percentage rate (APR), which illustrates what a loan costs each year.   Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: The interest rate on a loan affects the monthly payment and overall cost of borrowing. Weighing costs from one loan to the next is an important part of gauging loan affordability.

Application Process

	Application processes we review We review how easy it is to apply for a student loan, whether you can prequalify, the timeline for approval and how quickly the loan can be funded.     Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: The ease of applying for a loan and the speed of funding can make one loan more appealing than another, especially for students who need money quickly to pay school tuition.

Fees

	Fees we review  We research upfront origination fees, prepayment penalty fees, late fees, returned payment fees and other extra fees charged by lenders to measure loan costs.     Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
	Why it’s important to consumers: While many private lenders don’t charge upfront origination fees for student loans, there may be other fees we factor in to fully understand the potential total borrowing costs.

We customize each methodology for loan rankings based on features that are most important when loan shopping in certain situations. This means you may find lenders have varying star ratings across different articles. Below are the methodologies for our top student loan rankings.

Best Private Student Loans

When reviewing the best private student loans, we prioritize the availability of payment relief options, followed by the application process, loan terms and eligibility requirements. We choose the best lenders based on these category weights:

• Hardship options. 20%
• Interest rates. 20%
• Fees. 15%
• Application process. 15%
• Loan terms. 10%
• Eligibility. 10%
• Customer service. 10%

Best Student Loan Refinance Lenders

To evaluate the best student loan refinance lenders, we focus on analyzing hardship payment relief options, eligibility requirements and loan term options. We choose the best lenders based on these category weights:

• Interest rates. 20%
• Loan terms. 15%
• Fees. 15%
• Application process. 15%
• Eligibility. 15%
• Payment options. 10%
• Customer service. 10%

Best Parent Student Loans

When researching the best parent student loans, we look closely at payment relief options for financial hardship, interest rates and the application process. We choose the best lenders based on these category weights:

• Hardship options. 20%
• Interest rates. 20%
• Application process. 20%
• Loan terms. 15%
• Fees. 15%
• Eligibility. 10%

Best Low-Interest Student Loans

For the best low-interest student loans, we focus on payment relief options for hardship along with interest rates and the application process. We choose the best lenders based on these category weights:

• Hardship options. 30%
• Interest rates. 20%
• Application process. 15%
• Fees. 13%
• Loan terms. 11%
• Eligibility. 11%

Best Student Loans for Bad Credit

When ranking the best student loans for bad credit, we focus on loan terms, interest rates and payment options for borrowers facing financial hardship. We choose the best lenders based on these category weights:

• Loan terms. 25%
• Interest rates. 20%
• Hardship options. 20%
• Fees. 15%
• Application process. 10%
• Eligibility. 10%

Our team has over 20 years of cumulative editorial experience and takes pride in writing unbiased student loan reviews and rankings.

We use data to evaluate financial products and take our time to research and reach out to lenders when necessary to uncover fine-print loan terms, costs, fees and loan details.

Our goal is to help you make simpler financial decisions backed by hard facts. That’s why each article goes through multiple levels of editing, reviewing and fact-checking before publication.