Private Student Loans: FAQs

ELFI offers both fixed and variable interest rates. Fixed interest rates will not change from year to year, but variable interest rates will fluctuate based on the LIBOR index or the Prime Rate of Interest (see paragraph below for clarification), which may increase or decrease over the life of the loan.

Please Note: New variable rate ELFI loans applied for after 7:00 PM EST on January 7, 2022, will use the Prime Rate of Interest appearing in the Money Market section of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as the benchmark rate index. Borrowers who have an existing variable rate ELFI loan(s) that use the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as the benchmark rate index will continue to have LIBOR as the benchmark rate index on their loans. ELFI will notify borrowers with existing variable rate loans originated prior to 7:00 PM EST on January 7, 2022, of the expected change from LIBOR to an alternative benchmark rate index in the future.

No. ELFI still has to go through the underwriting process to determine if a borrower is eligible for a loan. Prequalification does not automatically qualify you for a final offer.

ELFI’S variable rate loans are based on either the 3-Month LIBOR or the Prime Rate of Interest (please see below for clarification). The interest rate on an ELFI’S variable rate loan may increase or decrease as the 3-Month LIBOR index or the Prime Rate of Interest increases or decreases. These indexes can be found in resources like The Wall Street Journal.

Please Note: New variable rate ELFI loans applied for after 7:00 PM EST on January 7, 2022, will use the Prime Rate of Interest appearing in the Money Market section of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as the benchmark rate index. Borrowers who have an existing variable rate ELFI loan(s) that use the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as the benchmark rate index will continue to have LIBOR as the benchmark rate index on their loans. ELFI will notify borrowers with existing variable rate loans originated prior to 7:00 PM EST on January 7, 2022, of the expected change from LIBOR to an alternative benchmark rate index in the future.

Yes. Borrowers who take out a variable rate loan will never have their rate exceed 18.00% APR.* (*APR = Annual Percentage Rate)

Rates are subject to change without notice, until a Student Loan Approval Disclosure is provided by Education Loan Finance. After receiving a variable rate loan, the rate is subject to change quarterly on January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st if the loan uses the LIBOR index rate or monthly if the loan uses the Prime Rate of Interest as the rate index. For more information about how variable rates are calculated, please view the Application and Credit Agreement.