Citizens Bank Student Loans Review 2024

Citizens Bank, which now simply goes by Citizens, is one of the largest retail banks in the country. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the company operates more than 900 branches, but it also issues student loans to individuals throughout the country.

Citizens Bank originates private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students, and it also offers student loan refinancing. While most refinancing lenders require applicants to have graduated to qualify for a loan, Citizens doesn’t have that requirement; it’s one of the only lenders that allows borrowers to refinance if they left school before earning a degree.

Citizens loans have no application, origination or disbursement fees, and the lender doesn’t charge prepayment penalties.

Citizens Bank only offers fixed-rate undergraduate loans; variable interest rates aren’t available. Loans are available to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and international students that have eligible co-signers.

Loan Amounts and Terms

Citizens student loans have terms ranging from five to 15 years.

The minimum you can borrow is $1,000, and the maximum is $350,000 (depending on degree). The upper maximum limit is an aggregate amount, and it is inclusive of all money borrowed from other lenders and federal student loans.

Loan Costs and Fees

The fixed interest rates for Citizens Bank’s undergraduate loans range from 5.99% to 14.00%. Variable interest rates range from 6.98% to 15.04%.

The lender doesn’t charge origination or disbursement fees, but there are late fees. If you miss a payment, Citizens Bank will charge you 5% of the payment amount.

Repayment Options

Citizens has three repayment options:

• Immediate: With the immediate repayment plan, you make full payments toward the principal and accrued interest while you’re in school. An immediate repayment option will give you the lowest total repayment cost.
• Interest-only: If you opt for the interest-only repayment plan, you only make payments toward the accrued interest while you’re in school and for six months after you leave college. You’ll pay more overall with this plan than if you followed the immediate repayment plan, but it’s less expensive than deferred repayment since you are covering the interest while you’re a student.
• Deferred: With deferred repayment, you don’t have to make any payments while you’re in school or for six months after leaving college. The deferred repayment option has the highest total cost since interest begins accruing while you’re still in school.

Noteworthy Perks and Features

Citizens has several standout features:

• Loyalty discount: If you or your co-signer are a Citizens Bank customer with an existing checking, savings or loan account, you can qualify for a 0.25% interest rate discount. However, Citizens Bank checking and savings accounts are only available to residents of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Vermont.
• Autopay discount: When you sign up for automatic payments, you receive a 0.25% interest rate discount. This discount can be combined with the loyalty discount, reducing your interest rate by up to 0.50%.
• Multiyear approval: When you apply, Citizens Bank will determine your eligibility for future loans. If you qualify, you can request additional funding during your next academic year without having to fill out another application.
• Hardship forbearance: If you or your co-signer is dealing with financial issues, you can request a hardship forbearance from Citizens. If your request is approved, you can temporarily pause your payments.

Typically, student loan refinancing lenders only work with applicants that have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, Citizens Bank is an exception to the rule. You can qualify for a loan if you have an associate’s degree, or even if you left school before graduating.

With an associate’s degree—or no degree at all—you can apply for refinancing after you’ve made 12 qualifying payments after leaving school.

Citizens refinancing loans offer both variable or fixed interest rates, and the lender also offers refinancing for parent loans.

Loan Amounts and Terms

You must have at least $10,000 in student loans to qualify for refinancing. The maximum amount you can refinance is $300,000 for individuals with a bachelor’s degree or below, and $500,000 for graduate degrees.

Loan Costs and Fees

You can qualify for fixed interest rates between 6.49% to 10.98%, or variable rates between 7.04% to 12.43% There are no application, origination or disbursement fees, but a 5% late fee applies.

Repayment Options

For students refinancing their own loans, repayment terms range from five to 20 years. Once you select a repayment term, your monthly payments will be spread evenly over that timeframe.

Noteworthy Perks and Features

Citizens Bank’s refinancing loans have the following perks:

• Loyalty discount: Existing customers with a Citizens checking, savings or loan account get a 0.25% interest rate reduction.
• Automatic payment discount: By signing up for automatic payments, borrowers get a 0.25% interest rate deduction

To get a loan from Citizens, you must be enrolled with an eligible institution as a full- or half-time student. Loans are available to U.S. residents, permanent citizens and international students that have a friend or family member that is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and is willing to co-sign the student loan application.

Eligibility Requirements

Citizens requires applicants to be the age of majority in their state. In most states, that means you must be at least 18 years old.

For student loans, Citizens requires applicants or their co-signers to have an income of $12,000 or more. For refinancing, the minimum is $24,000.

Citizens doesn’t disclose its minimum credit score requirement; instead, it says applicants should have “reasonably strong” credit. However, most approved applicants had very good to excellent credit. According to the company’s 2020 annual report, 88% of Citizens Bank’s education loans were issued to borrowers with a score of at least 740. You will likely need a co-signer to qualify for a loan if your score is below 740.

Co-signer Options

Citizens Bank allows co-signers on private student loan and refinancing applications. Borrowers can apply for a co-signer release after making 36 consecutive, on-time payments.

Unlike other lenders, Citizens Bank doesn’t have a prequalification tool for it’s private student loans. The only way to find out if you’re eligible for a loan and what rates you can get is to fill out an application and undergo a hard credit check.

You can apply online by inputting general personal information about yourself and your school. You’ll also need recent pay stubs or other proof of income, your monthly mortgage or rental payment and your anticipated graduation date. If you’re an international or DACA student, you may need to provide documentation about your immigration status.

Once you complete and submit your application, Citizens will review your information and complete a credit check. If you are approved, Citizens will notify you of your loan term options, and you can select the loan that works for you. Once you’ve selected a loan, you need to accept the loan’s terms and sign a promissory note.

After signing the agreement and promissory note, Citizens Bank will electronically send the money to your school.

Related: Best Private Student Loans

You can contact Citizens Bank’s student loan division by calling 888-411-0266. An online chat feature is also coming soon to the website.

We reviewed Citizens based on its interest rates, fees, loan terms, hardship options, application process and eligibility. We rated Citizens based on the weighting assigned to each category:

• Hardship options: 30%
• Application process: 16%
• Loan terms: 14%
• Eligibility: 14%
• Interest rates: 13%
• Fees: 13%

Specific characteristics taken into consideration within each category included number of months of forbearance available, economic hardship repayment options available beyond traditional forbearance, perks like cash-back rewards upon graduation, discounts, time to default, disclosure of credit score and income requirements and other factors.

To learn more about how Forbes Advisor rates lenders, and our editorial process, check out our Loans Rating & Review Methodology.