College Ave Student Loans Review for 2024

College Ave receives rave reviews from both customers and national news organizations alike. This private student loan lender started off in student loans with the philosophy that lending doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, you can apply on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, and get approved in as little as three minutes.

College Ave

During each stage of the loan process, College Ave takes the time to explain everything that’s taking place. Once you’re approved, they also provide loan terms and repayment options to give you as much control over your finances as possible. For a private student loan company, College Ave truly takes the time to help borrowers find the best deal.

Eligibility Criteria for College Ave Student Loans

You’ll need the following information to apply for a College Ave student loan:

  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • Household Income
  • Social security number
  • College graduation date
  • Requested loan amount
  • Cost of attendance

In addition to this required information, there are a few other things to keep in mind before you begin your application:

Credit Score: There is a credit score requirement, but they don’t disclose what it is on their website. The good news is that it does have a pre-qualification tool that potential borrowers can use. The tool tells you if you’ll likely qualify for a private student loan with College Ave. Better still, it performs a soft credit check, meaning using the pre-qualification tool won’t hurt your credit score.

Eligible School: Verify that your school is one that College Ave will work with. Though they work with many schools, it’s worth your while to confirm this first. To do this, either ask your school if College Ave is a participating lender, or email College Ave directly and ask.

Satisfactory Academic Progress: If you’re a current college student, and wish to receive funding through College Ave, you must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements.

Unfortunately, they don’t clarify what they consider to be meeting these requirements but know that they may discontinue funding if they feel that you’re not taking your education seriously. Check your terms carefully to make sure you understand the requirements in full.

Cosigner: Most students requesting aid will need a cosigner with a strong credit profile. Cosigners are usually parents but can be anyone who is over 18, a U.S. citizen and has a strong credit score. Therefore, cosigners are also often relatives, spouses, or sometimes even close friends.

The cosigner must be willing to take on student loan payments in case the borrower is unable to do so. Therefore, should you ever be unable to make a payment, both of your credit scores will be negatively impacted. You can check College Ave’s pre-qualification tool to see if you need a cosigner.

Diverse Loan Options Offered by College Ave

College Ave offers various student loans, and will soon offer student loan refinance options. Here are the details of each type of private student loan available.

Undergraduate Loans

College Ave undergraduate loans can be used to cover all of your education costs. This includes room and board, books, classes, and fees. You’ll need to borrow at least $1,000, but College Ave will cover 100% of your school’s cost of attendance. Repayment options are flexible, lasting either 5, 8, 10, or 15 years. Interest rates depend on whether you choose a fixed rate or variable rate loan.

Career Loans

If you want to advance your career, you may need to go back to school. A career loan from College Ave covers the costs of tuition or any other education costs. When you complete your program, they’ll also send you $150 as a congratulations. Available repayment terms last 5, 8, 10, or 15 years. Fixed rates and variable rates are comparable to undergraduate loans.

Graduate Student Loans

College Ave provides graduate loans to help finance advanced degrees. Loan options are available for postgraduate, master’s, doctoral, or even professional degrees. Loan terms last 5, 8, 10, or 15 years. Interest rates are a bit more competitive for College Ave’s graduate loans.

Parent Loans

If you’re a parent and want to cover the cost of your child’s education, College Ave’s interest rates and repayment plans can enable you to do so. For the length of your loan term, you can choose between either 5 or 15 years. Both fixed and variable rates are slightly higher for parent loans compared to those for student borrowers.

Student Loan Refinancing

College Ave’s student loan refinancing is a great option for borrowers who want a nonstandard loan term. In fact, they offer 16 different loan terms are opposed to most student loan refinancing companies like SoFi and CommonBond who only offer 4 or 5.

Flexible Repayment Plans with College Ave

If you start making payments on your student debt as soon as possible, you’ll save more over the life of the student loan. However, if this isn’t possible, and you want to exclusively focus on your studies, you may want to look at another repayment option. Luckily, College Ave student loans offer choices to suit whatever your needs are.

Full Principal and Interest

With this repayment option, you’ll start repaying both your interest and principal right away. This option is obviously the highest in-school payment option but saves you the most amount of money in the long-term.

Interest Only

Only pay interest while you’re in school with this option. Doing this keeps your principal from growing while you are in school.

Flat Payment

Pay only $25 a month while you’re in school. Paying this amount reduces the amount of accrued interest before you graduate. This is the lowest in-school payment you can make.

Deferred Payment

By deferring payment, you don’t make any payments while you’re still in school. This enables you to concentrate only on your studies, but the drawback is that it’s the most expensive option. Each month you don’t make a payment on your loan, interest accrues and increases your total overall loan balance.

Streamlined Application Process at College Ave

Applying for a student loan with College Ave is designed to be quick and straightforward, ensuring you can focus more on your studies and less on paperwork. Here’s a simplified overview of the essential steps:

  1. Initial information submission: Start by providing basic personal and financial details, including your phone number, email, address, date of birth, household income, social security number, expected college graduation date, and the amount you wish to borrow. This step typically takes about 15 minutes.
  2. Credit check and pre-qualification: Utilize College Ave’s pre-qualification tool for an initial assessment. This involves a soft credit check, which won’t impact your credit score, to determine your eligibility for a loan.
  3. Loan approval: Once you apply, it usually takes around three minutes to receive your approval status. In some cases, approval may be contingent on securing a cosigner.
  4. Review and accept terms: After approval, review and accept the loan terms and conditions presented by College Ave. This step is crucial to ensure you understand your obligations and the details of the loan.
  5. Final documentation: Complete and digitally sign the required forms, including a second disclosure that outlines your loan’s fees and rates.
  6. Verification and disbursement: College Ave then verifies your enrollment and the cost of attendance with your educational institution. Once verified, the funds are disbursed directly to your school to cover your education costs. Any surplus funds will be sent to you by your school.
  7. Cosigner considerations: If a cosigner is involved, remember that they are equally responsible for the loan. A cosigner release option may be available after meeting specific criteria, such as consecutive on-time payments and income requirements.

By following these steps, you can efficiently secure a student loan with College Ave, tailored to meet your educational funding needs.

College Ave Student Loans Special Features

Autopay reduction: If you sign up for autopay, you’ll get a 0.25% reduction in your interest rate. Your bank account must be a valid bank account that is designated to make the required monthly payments.

No fees: College Ave doesn’t charge any fees to apply or to pay off your loan early.

Pre-qualification tool: The pre-qualification tool enables potential borrowers to see if they’ll likely qualify for a loan. No need to worry about your credit score. The pre-qualification tool won’t hurt your score. When you formally apply for a loan, a hard credit check will occur. Once a hard credit check happens, your score may drop approximately five points.

Cosigner release: It is possible to get your cosigner released from any obligations from your loan after two years of payments. However, there are a few requirements that need to be met before this can be done.

First, you must not have missed any payments on any of your other financial obligations for 24 months. College Ave will obtain a credit report to verify this. Next, your income for the past two years must be more than twice the remaining loan balance. Finally, during the past two years, you must have made 24 on-time consecutive payments on your College Ave student loan without any late charges.

Bottom Line

College Ave offers private student loans with competitive fixed and variable rate with flexible repayment terms. Moreover, they have excellent customer service. They’re a qualified online lender with many schools across the nation, and can be used for any of your private student loan needs: undergraduate, Ph.D., and everything in between.

Crediful
Meet the author

Crediful is your go-to destination for all things related to personal finance. We're dedicated to helping you achieve financial freedom and make informed financial decisions. Our team of financial experts and enthusiasts brings you articles and resources on topics like budgeting, credit, saving, investing, and more.