Edly IBR Student Loan Review (2024)

Edly considers a borrower’s credit history when issuing its loans, but students aren't required to have a credit history or a minimum credit score. Instead, Edly focuses on a student’s time to graduate and their potential post-graduation earnings.

Depending on their major and school, students may be able qualify for an Edly IBR loan without a cosigner, even if they have limited credit histories. Edly says that students are three times more likely to qualify to be approved for its IBR loan without a cosigner than for a traditional private student loan.

Edly IBR Loans have floating payments based on a borrower’s income. If income falls below a threshold ($30k), the loan goes into deferment until the borrower can repay again. Borrowers can expect to spend up to 12 years making payments towards their loan.

When your income rises, your payments on your Edly IBR Loan will increase as well. Payment increases will typically be proportional to your income.

Edly says that students in high-income potential majors are no more likely to receive a loan than lower-income potential students. And it also plans to expand its eligible academic program list to a wide range of majors beyond STEM, business, and healthcare by the end of the year.

Rather than sheer income potential, eligible programs are determined by performance statistics, like graduation rates, job placement rates, certification exam pass rates, etc. However, it should be noted that while your estimated starting salary won't affect your loan eligibility, it will impact your specific loan terms.

A borrower's repayment period ends after they complete 60 or 84 payments or they hit a repayment cap of 23% APR. When Edly first launched, the repayment cap was 23% APR OR 2.25x the loan amount, but they're no longer capping payments at 2.25x.

A borrower can choose to pay off his or her remaining loan balance at any time. Butnote thatif you decide to pay off your loan before the end of your term, the maximum 23% APR will added to your payoff amount.

As aprivate student loan company, Edly isn't trying to compete with subsidized federal student loans. Instead, it's trying to fund private loans that borrowers will be able to repay.

Although interest rate information is scant, the expected interest rates on the Edly student loans would be on the high end of what traditional private lenders charge undergraduate students. But Edly offers more protections for borrowers. The income-based repayment plan reduces payments when income is low. And it allows borrowers to defer their loans in the event of job loss.

However, Edly is likely to be a more costly option in the long run. This is because Edly borrowers face an unusual situation when

If you think that a traditional private student loan is a better option for you, you can compare our top lenders here. But if the income-based-repayment element of Edly's loans appeals to, know that other companies like Strideand offer similar products. Stride, in particular, still caps your total payment amount rather than just capping your APR. Here's a quick look at how Edly compares:

Students who want to take out a loan can start by checking their loan terms on the Edly site. The site uses a soft credit pull to provide a loan estimate, so it does not impact a borrower’s credit score.

Edly says that only adverse credit history is a factor in your approval or denial (like defaults, collections accounts, bankruptcies, etc.). There's no minimum credit score requirement. And it doesn't require students to have a cosigner when they apply.

A borrower who officially applies must provide information about their graduation date, major, school of attendance, and proof of income among other information. If a borrower is approved, Edly sends a check directly to their school at the start of the next semester.

Edly is headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Its street address is 555 Pleasantville Road, Suite N202, Briarcliff Manor, NY, 10510.

The company does not advertise a customer service telephone number or a chat service. Students who are interested in applying for a loan can check their repayment terms through the Edly website. or use the Contact Us form.

Generally speaking, income-share agreements tend to trick students into taking on more debt. The loans from Edly are no exception. Despite the claims of affordability and protection, borrowers are likely to be locked into a loan with double-digit interest rates for three to five years.

Of course, most of these borrowers will be able to afford to repay the loans as Edly specifically targets students with high-income potential. But whether a borrower can eventually repay the debt doesn’t reflect the quality of the debt for the borrower. With Edly, you could pay up to 23% APR on your borrowed amount. And there's no longer a 2.25x payment cap.

Get a quote on an Edly IBR Loan here >>