Education Loan Finance

What Education Loan Finance does

Education Loan Finance (ELFI) is a U.S. consumer lending division of SouthEast Bank, a chartered commercial bank headquartered in Farragut (Knoxville area), Tennessee, established in its current brand form in 2015 but leveraging roughly three decades of student loan industry experience through its parent. ELFI originates private student loans for undergraduate, graduate, and parent borrowers and refinances existing private and federal student loans, with a specialized EdMed sub-brand serving medical, dental, veterinary, nursing, pharmacy, and optometry students via incomeless underwriting, multi-year eligibility, and automated residency deferment.

The operating model is direct-to-consumer and fully digital: a web-based origination platform that is mobile-optimized, supports pre-qualification without a hard credit pull, and pairs each borrower with a dedicated Student Loan Advisor reachable by phone, text, or email. Loan terms run 5-15 years with fixed rates starting at 2.99% APR and variable rates from 6.75% APR, with no application, origination, or prepayment fees. Approval requires school certification, which anchors an extensive network of eligible institutions, and post-origination servicing is outsourced to MOHELA and AES Success, allowing ELFI to focus on origination, brand, and customer experience.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through interest income on originated and refinanced loan balances, with no fee-based streams aside from net interest margin. Distribution combines a heavily SEO-driven Knowledge Hub (502+ educational articles), paid and organic social, earned media placements (NerdWallet, Forbes, US News), and a customer referral program; school-partner relationships serve as a bottom-of-funnel trust and certification layer. The unit operates in a single geography (USA), serves a long tail of individual borrowers (30,000+ refinance customers disclosed), and is supported by a small team of 11-50 employees.

Name

Education Loan Finance

Legal name

SouthEast Bank

Website

https://elfi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Education Loan Finance (ELFI) is a U.S. direct-to-consumer division of SouthEast Bank that originates private student loans and refinances existing student debt for undergraduate, graduate, parent, and healthcare-professional borrowers nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Lending - Private Student Loans and Refinancing

NAICS

Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Student Loans (Undergraduate & Graduate) (FSAKAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Loan Refinancing (Private Refi) (FSAKAEAD), Parent & Family Education Loans (e.g., PLUS/private parent loans) (FSAKAEAC), Student Loan Advisory & Repayment Assistance (FSAEAFAE)

Keywords

• Private student lending
• Student loan refinancing
• Medical school loans
• Parent student loans
• Education financing

Headquarters

HQ city

Knoxville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Student Loan Origination: ELFI originates private student loans for undergraduate, graduate, and medical/healthcare students, generating revenue through interest charges on the loan principal. Loans are offered with fixed and variable interest rates.
2. Student Loan Refinancing: ELFI refinances existing student loans (both private and federal), allowing borrowers to potentially lower their interest rates or modify repayment terms. Revenue is generated through interest on the refinanced loan balance.
3. Parent Loans: Loans for parents or legal guardians to finance their dependent student's education. Note: Parent Loan Product is temporarily unavailable according to current website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Education Loan Finance (ELFI) originates and refinances private student loans for U.S. undergraduate, graduate, medical/healthcare, and parent borrowers. Fixed and variable rate loans are funded through parent company SouthEast Bank, with multi-year eligibility, four in-school repayment options, and a specialized EdMed program featuring incomeless underwriting and automated residency deferment. After origination, loans are serviced by third parties MOHELA and AES.

Product overview

ELFI (Education Loan Finance) offers a comprehensive suite of private student loan products and student loan refinancing services. The core offering consists of Private Student Loans covering undergraduate, graduate, and parent loan categories, complemented by specialized EdMed Medical Student Loans for healthcare professionals-in-training. The product line also includes Student Loan Refinance and Parent Loan Refinance options. Key differentiators include competitive fixed rates starting at 2.99% APR, multiple repayment options (immediate, interest-only, fixed $25 monthly, and deferred), personalized Student Loan Advisors assigned to each customer, and no fees (no application, origination, or prepayment penalties). ELFI is a division of SouthEast Bank, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EdMed: Specialized medical student loan program designed for medical and healthcare professionals-in-training, including medical school, dental school, veterinary school, nursing school, pharmacy school, and optometry school. Features income-less underwriting, multi-year eligibility, and automated residency deferment.

Products and services

• Private Student Loans Flexible private student loans for U.S. undergraduate, graduate, and parent borrowers covering up to 100% of school-certified cost of attendance minus aid, with four in-school repayment options and 5-15 year terms.
• EdMed Medical Student Loans Specialized loan program for healthcare professional students in medical, dental, veterinary, nursing, pharmacy, and optometry schools, featuring incomeless underwriting, multi-year eligibility, and automated residency deferment.
• Student Loan Refinance Refinancing of existing U.S. student loans to lower interest rate, reduce monthly payment, or change loan term, with reported average monthly savings of $334 and average lifetime savings of $21,921.
• Parent Loan Refinance Refinancing product specifically for parents carrying existing parent education loans (private or Parent PLUS), recognized by NerdWallet as 2024 Best Student Loan Refinancing for Parents.

Quantifiable outcome

• Customers who refinance save an average of $334 per month
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MOHELAcoreTechnology or IntegrationMOHELA serves as one of ELFI's loan servicers. Existing ELFI customers can access their loan servicing dashboard through MOHELA's online portal (elfi.mohela.com) for payment processing and account management during the loan repayment period.
• AES (AES Success)coreTechnology or IntegrationAES (AES Success) serves as one of ELFI's loan servicers. Existing ELFI customers can access their loan servicing dashboard through AES's online portal (elfi.aessuccess.org) for payment processing and account management during the loan repayment period.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Earnest: Earnest is a leading student loan refinancing lender (now operating under Zirtue/Hummingbird after the Navient transaction) with a strong direct-to-consumer underwriting model targeting high-credit-quality borrowers. Directly comparable to ELFI's refinancing product with similar pricing tiers and customizable repayment terms.
• SoFi: SoFi is the most-scaled direct competitor offering private student loans, student loan refinancing, and personal loans through a digital, direct-to-consumer model. Both companies originate and refinance student debt; SoFi's broader balance sheet gives it category leadership but ELFI competes head-to-head on rates, terms, and refinancing economics.
• College Ave Student Loans: College Ave is a private student loan lender covering undergraduate, graduate, MBA, law, dental, medical, and parent loans with competitive fixed and variable rates. Closely overlaps ELFI's full product suite including specialized medical/healthcare lending and parent loans.
• Laurel Road (KeyBank): Laurel Road, a KeyBank brand, specializes in student loan refinancing and healthcare professional loans with member benefits for medical, dental, and veterinary professionals. Directly competes with ELFI's EdMed program and refinancing products, especially for healthcare professionals-in-training.
• Splash Financial: Splash Financial is a student loan refinancing marketplace and direct lender matching borrowers with partner lenders. Competes directly with ELFI's refinancing core product, operating in the same direct-to-consumer vertical with rate-comparison positioning.
• Ascent Funding: Ascent Funding is a private student loan lender offering undergraduate and graduate loans (including outcomes-based loans without cosigners) plus co-signer release options. Direct peer to ELFI's undergraduate and graduate private loan products with comparable rate structures.

Emerging players

• Panacea Financial: Panacea Financial is a fintech lender focused exclusively on healthcare professionals-in-training, offering student loan refinancing, private student loans, and residency/fellowship loans. Directly competes with ELFI's EdMed program in the medical/healthcare professional segment with deeper specialization.
• LendKey: LendKey operates as a student loan marketplace/lender matching borrowers with community lenders and credit unions. Partial overlap with ELFI's direct origination model, with marketplace-driven price discovery rather than balance-sheet lending.

Broad incumbents

• Discover Student Loans: Discover offers undergraduate, graduate, and consolidation loans through its consumer credit franchise. As a top-five private student lender with a household name brand, Discover competes with ELFI on undergraduate and graduate loans with similar fee-free structures.
• Citizens Bank Student Loans: Citizens Bank is a large regional bank offering private student loans, parent loans, and refinancing as part of a broader retail banking franchise. Competes with ELFI across all three loan categories with the advantage of cross-sell to deposit and banking customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/elfi
• Facebookfacebook.com/educationloanfinance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/savewithelfi
• Instagraminstagram.com/savewithelfi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Education Loan Finance