Editorial policy

Sourcing

• Policy claims are cited to a primary source: the Code of Federal Regulations, the United States Code, the Federal Register, or a Department of Education or Federal Student Aid page.
• Secondary sources are acceptable for market observations and are not acceptable for policy facts. If a number appears here, it was read from the source, not from an article describing the source.
• Every regulatory citation carries an enforcement status. A rule can sit in the Code of Federal Regulations while being unenforceable, because a court vacatur does not remove the text until the agency publishes a removal. Citing the CFR alone is therefore not enough, and the sources page tracks status separately from citation.
• Where two authoritative sources conflict, both are described and the conflict is labelled unresolved. It is never silently resolved in favour of the more convenient reading.

Calculations

• Every formula is published in full on the methodology page.
• The engine is covered by an automated test suite that runs on every build, including checks against the Department of Education published worked examples.
• Assumptions that are ours rather than the government, such as the discount rate and the on-time payment assumption, are labelled as assumptions wherever they affect a result.
• Known limitations are published rather than omitted.

How results are worded

• Results are always framed as what the numbers entered imply. The verdict never says "you should". This is enforced by a test, not by editorial habit.
• An unfavourable verdict is given exactly the same visual weight as a favourable one. Colour is never used to make one answer look more attractive than another.
• Protections that cannot honestly be given a dollar value are listed without one rather than omitted, because omitting them silently records their value as zero.

Commercial relationships

• Some lender links are paid partner links. Where any appear, that is disclosed in plain language on the same screen, above the links.
• Partner links carry a sponsored relationship attribute.
• No partner link is rendered on a result where the numbers point away from refinancing, or where the comparison is too close to call.It is absent from the page, not hidden with styling.
• The calculation engine has no knowledge that partners exist.
• No best-lender ranking is published as though it were objective while a commercial relationship sits behind it.

Review

Policy pages are re-checked against primary sources monthly, and immediately whenever the Department of Education publishes a change. The calculation engine is re-verified quarterly.

Every page carries a visible last-reviewed date, which changes only when the page has actually been re-checked against its sources. It is not bumped to look fresh.

No credentialed financial professional currently reviews this content, and no page claims otherwise. The structured data omits a reviewer rather than naming one who has not reviewed it.

Corrections

Substantive corrections are logged below with the date, the page and what changed. Typographical fixes are not logged.

No substantive corrections have been made yet. This site launched in 2026 and the log starts empty. That is not evidence nothing is wrong, only that nothing has been reported and confirmed. Report an error.

Who is responsible

Singh writes and maintains this site and is responsible for everything on it, including the errors. More about that.