Rebecca Safier

Good credit: You’ll typically need good-to-excellent credit to qualify for refinancing. Generally, borrowers with strong credit can qualify for lower interest rates compared to borrowers with poor or fair credit.
Low debt-to-income ratio: Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is the percentage of your gross monthly income that’s required to pay expenses like your rent or mortgage, car loan, and other debts. In general, you’ll need a DTI below 50% — though some lenders might require a lower ratio.
Verifiable income: Lenders want to see that you’ll be able to afford your future loan payments. Some lenders have a certain minimum income you’ll have to meet while others don’t — but in either case, you’ll typically have to show proof of income.

8+ years as a personal finance writer.
Certified student loan counselor.
Work has appeared on USA TODAY Blueprint, Newsweek Vault, Forbes Advisor, CNN Underscored and U.S. News & World Report.

Bio and experience

Rebecca Safier has more than eight years of experience in personal finance and higher education, specializing in student loans, financial aid, personal loans, and budgeting.

She has worked as a writer at PrepScholar and a senior writer at LendingTree and Student Loan Hero. As a freelance writer, her work has been seen in Forbes Advisor, CNN, USA TODAY Blueprint, LendEDU, New York Post, FinanceBuzz, CNET, SoFi Learn, Buy Side WSJ and U.S. News & World Report.

Rebecca is a certified student loan counselor through the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors.

Education

Rebecca has a bachelor's degree from Tufts University in English language and literature, an ESL teaching certification from Boston Academy of English, and a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education in prevention science and practice in adolescent counseling.