Has anybody used Commonbond for their loans?

Well, there are federal loan programs (Stafford and PLUS). Last I checked the fixed rates are similar to SoFi and CommonBond, but the federal loans offer more flexible terms. Also, most big banks offer student loans: Wells Fargo, BofA, Citi, Discover, etc. I ended up taking loans from Discover (75% of COA) and CharterOne (25% of COA) at 4.25% (full deferral) and 3.42% (interest only in school) variable (includes discounts). Here's a list of of providers that is somwhat up-to-date: https://www.finaid.org/loans/educationlenders.phtml

My strategy was to apply everywhere, then compare terms. All applications within 30 days only count as one inquiry for credit scoring purposes.

At any given time there are always diff deals. Good to shop around each and every time.

What's everyone's thoughts on variable versus fixed? I'd expect interest rates to increase soon, so was planning to do fixed?

How much do you expect them to rise? How soon? How long until you can pay off the loans, conservatively? Optimistically? What's your risk tolerance? These are all hypotheticals you should be thinking about.

For me, I expect them to rise, perhaps even significantly. I also project a pretty quick payoff (given my specific situation) so was willing to take that risk, assuming I was offered very low rates, which I was. For a 1% savings, I probably would have stuck with fixed.

Thanks, since I'll have a high debt load and will probably have to deal with getting married (to a girl who will have DNP school debt) and all that jazz, I assume my payment period will be closer to the full 10 years than I'd like, so I think I'm going to go with fixed rates. Thanks again for the help!

You should do some research on her end of the stick. I don't know what your (or her) situation is, but it may be advantageous for you to use lower variable interest rates and pay it off ASAP (or do a mix of fixed/variable and hedge).

Don't worry about her loans, and you should consider it as a separate equation. Depending on her plans, her education should be entirely funded with Direct federal loans, especially if she decides to work at a hospital or other public service. In fact, I might recommend that she takes out the max $$ loans she possibly can from the government. There are lots of benefits for Direct govt loans (for her) that don't apply to us MBA folks. It's likely her loans can be forgiven.

You can also go variable now and consolidate to fixed at graduation. Pretty sure both Sofi and ComminBond have solid refi options.

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Isn't there a risk the fixed rate will go up in 2 years though?

Yes.

I'd also look at the potential to refinance once you have offers in hand, not just the current fixed rates. My friend had higher rates with CommonBond than SoFi, but CB offers better job search/ networking support. The salary bump mitigated the higher interest rates on the initial loan.