Member Benefits Program helps lawyers refinance student loans
Florida lawyers have refinanced more than $1.3 million in student loans using SoFi, a provider with The Florida Bar’s Member Benefits Program.
According to the ABA, the average amount of debt borrowed by a law school graduate is for public schools and for private schools, not even including the cost of undergraduate education.
That’s why The Florida Bar added SoFi to the Member Benefits Program, enabling SoFi to provide Bar members with a student loan refinancing benefit to help them tackle their financial issues.
Through this relationship with SoFi, Bar members and their friends and families receive a $300 welcome bonus upon refinancing through SoFi.com/FloridaBar.
“Just like refinancing a mortgage, student loans can also be refinanced at a lower interest rate,” according to SoFi. “Interest rates for graduate and professional school have been higher than prevailing rates for a number of years, which means it can be possible for law school grads to get a lower rate through refinancing.”
Refinancing can have benefits like lower monthly payments or a reduced payment term, and can save a significant amount of interest over the remaining life of the loan. Lawyers may also consolidate more than one student loan through refinancing.
Here is a typical scenario, according to SoFi:
“Let’s say you have $100,000 in student loans at a 6.8 percent weighted average interest rate and 10-year term (6.8 percent was the going rate for federal unsubsidized loans from 2006 to 2013). Your monthly loan payment would be about $1,150, and you’d pay about $38,000 in interest over the life of the loan. If you can reduce that rate by even 1 percentage point to 5.8 percent, your payment goes down by $50/month, and you save about $6,000 in total interest. Cut it further, and you save even more. SoFi attorney borrowers save around $26,000 on average when they refinance their student loans.”
For more information about SoFi visit Member Services on the Bar’s website. SoFi will also be holding webinars specifically for Florida Bar members. Register at SoFi.com/FloridaBarWebinars. The webinars are set for May 3 at 5 p.m., May 6 at 12 p.m., and May 11 at 6 p.m.
