First Republic Bank Student Loans Review – The Lowest Fixed Rate Loans

First Republic Student Loan Refinancing

First Republic offers one of the most competitive student loan refinancing products out there. If you have a strong credit score and strong income, First Republic should be among your top choices to refinance your student loans. 

They offer a simple product, with ultra-low rates, and no fees. 

Their goal with this product is to get you to become a banking customer - so to get the lowest rates you also need to establish a checking account at the bank. You can also only start the loan process via a private banker.

Luckily, we have a private banker, and you can reach out to him here: Eric Peterson at (619) 338-1505 or by email here: epeterson@firstrepublic.com. Make sure you mention The College Investor to get your $300 bonus!

Rates And Terms

What's awesome about First Republic is the low rates. They currently only offer fixed rate loans, and they keep it pretty simple.

They currently offer the following:

• 5 Year: 1.95% APR
• 7 Year: 2.55% APR
• 10 Year: 3.00% APR
• 15 Year: 3.45% APR

These rates include relationship-based pricing adjustments. To qualify for a 2.00% rate adjustment, applicants must open a First Republic ATM Rebate Checking account (“Account”) with automatic loan payment and direct deposit. To qualify for a 0.50% rate adjustment, borrower must deposit and maintain a minimum deposit balance in the Account. If the borrower does not meet these requirements, the rate adjustments will be removed and the rate will increase by 2.00% and 0.50% respectively. 

First Republic also has tough credit and income requirements to qualify. You should expect to have excellent credit to get a loan through them.

Loan Amounts

First Republic allows borrowers to borrow up to $300,000 when they refinance their student loans. This is a solid amount, but not the most we've seen.

Depending on your degree type, there are minimums. If you have an undergraduate degree, the minimum loan amount is $40,000. If you have a graduate degree, the minimum loan amount is $25,000.

Loan Bonus Offers

First Republic is offering a lot of bonus offers to make these loans so enticing. You can get a 2.00% rate adjustment by opening a checking account with automatic debit and direct deposit. You can also get a 0.50% to 0.75% rate adjustment by maintaining a minimum balance in the account.

The rate reduction works as follows: 

Borrower must open a First Republic ATM Rebate Checking account. If the Account is closed, the rate will increase by 5.00%. Rates shown include relationship-based pricing adjustments of:

1. 2.00% for maintaining automatic payments and direct deposit with the Account
2. 0.50% for depositing and maintaining a deposit balance equal to the greater of 10% of the approved loan amount or $5,000 into the Account
3. An additional 0.25% for depositing and maintaining a deposit balance equal to the greater of 20% of the approved loan amount or $10,000 into the Account.

If the loan is paid off within 48 months, they will refund the interested paid, up to 2% of the original loan amount. That means, if you got a 5 year loan and qualified for the 1.95% APR, and you pay off your loan within 2 years, you could get a rebate of the total amount of interest you paid! That's awesome.

Finally, if you call and get started with our personal banker, you'll get a $300 bonus. You can reach out to him here: Eric Peterson at (619) 338-1505 or by email here: epeterson@firstrepublic.com. Make sure you mention The College Investor to get your $300 bonus! You can also start the application online here.

Restrictions

As you saw above in the rates and terms, there are definitely some restrictions, but they can be met by well qualified borrowers. 

First Republic has several important restrictions that every potential applicant should be aware of before going forward. No deferment or forgiveness is offered. These loans are private loans, and so you lose access to any Federal programs you might be eligible for. Make sure you read our full guide on student loan consolidation and understand your options.

Loans may only be taken out in states where the company has locations and is accredited to do business. These states include:

• California
• New York
• Massachusetts 
• Oregon
• Florida
• Connecticut

Finally, as we mentioned above, there are a lot of terms and conditions to get the lowest rates. You must also reach out to our personal banker to get started. Hopefully they move this process online soon, but that's how you need to get going for now.

Final Thoughts

First Republic offers a fantastic loan refinancing product for those that qualify for it. These are some of the lowest fixed rate loans we've seen, and even though there are hoops to jump through to get them, they are worth it.

If you're ready to get started, contact our personal banker and start the process. You can reach out to him here: Eric Peterson at (619) 338-1505 or by email here: epeterson@firstrepublic.com. Make sure you mention The College Investor to get your $300 bonus!