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College Ave is a great lender for borrowers who want multiple options for repayment term lengths and are after a low APR. College Ave also offers many options for contacting customer support.
College Ave is best for borrowers who want a competitve APR and want to avoid origination fees. The company also has a variety of degrees it will finance.
Types of Student Loans Offered by College Ave
College offers student loans for many types of degrees, including:
Undergraduate
Graduate
Law school
Career training
Dental school
MBAs
Health professions
Parent loans
Loan refinancing
College Ave Student Loans Details
To get a loan, you must meet the following qualifications:
Be a US citizen or permanent resident or an international student with a Social Security number and eligible cosigner
Be enrolled in a degree-granting school half-time or more
Be making satisfactory academic progress as defined by your school
Pass a credit check
You should think about your federal student loan options before applying for any private student loan, including one with College Ave, as you can usually get more favorable terms and protections through the government.
There are several options you can choose to contact College Ave's customer support. You can call the company from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. You have the option to text the lender as well. College Ave also has a live chat feature on its website where you can message a representative. Additionally, you can email the company.
College Ave is a great lender for borrowers who want multiple options for repayment term lengths and are after a low APR. College Ave also offers many options for contacting customer support.
College Ave offers competitive fixed and variable APRs on its undergraduate student loans and doesn't charge any origination or prepayment fees. Additionally, you have a variety of term lengths you can pick, including five, eight, 10, and 15-year periods.
You will pay a late payment fee with College Ave, and a credit check is required to take out a loan.
College Ave's graduate student loans aren't quite as good of an offering as its undergraduate students loans, as the lender has middle-of-the-pack APRs compared to competitors and comes with no extra perks. On the plus side, the company offers many term lengths and doesn't come with any origination or prepayment fees.
College Ave is a great lender for borrowers who want multiple options for repayment term lengths and are after a low APR. College Ave also offers many options for contacting customer support.
College Ave offers 11 repayment term lengths on its refinanced student loans. You're able to take out a loan for five to 15 years with the lender. Many other lenders limit your selection to four or five options — though some others do offer 20-year term lengths (which College Ave does not).
Pros and Cons of College Ave Student Loans
How to Apply for College Ave Student Loans
1. Get your information together. This includes your Social Security number, your school of enrollment, your enrollment status, the loan amount you need, your address, and other financial documents.
2. Fill out your online application. You're apply to complete the application in about 15 minutes, and after doing so you'll get your rates.
3. Send the required supplementary documents. College Ave may require certain financial documents including proof of income and residency.
4. Accept your loan offer. After you get all your documents in order, College Ave will send you a formal loan agreement. It will fund your loan after you sign on the dotted line.
What Options Do I Have to Repay My College Ave Student Loans?
You have four options to repay your student loan after you've taken it out: deferred, flat, interest-only, and full payment. Each option has its advantages for different types of borrowers.
Deferred
Fixed
Interest-only
Full payment
No payments while in school and during six-month grace period
Unpaid interest accrues
Highest overall cost
Pay $25 per month while in school and during six-month grace period
Unpaid interest accrues
Low in-school payments
Pay loan's interest monthly while in school and during six-month grace period
Moderate in-school payments
Repay principal plus interest while in school and during six-month grace period
Lowest overall cost
Highest in-school payments
College Ave Frequently Asked Questions
Are College Ave loans forgiven?
No, College Ave student loans aren't likely to be forgiven — no private student loan will be.
Is College Ave hard to get approved for?
Your approval chances will depend on your individual financial situation, but College Ave generally isn't any harder to qualify for than another student loan lender.
What credit score do you need for College Ave student loans?
You'll need a credit score of at least 600 to get a student loan from College Ave.
College Ave Trustworthiness
College Ave is a Better Business Bureau-accredited company that has an A+ in trustworthiness from the BBB. The BBB evaluates trustworthiness by looking at business' replies to consumer complaints, honesty in advertising, and clarity about business practices.
That said, you won't necessarily have a great relationship with College Ave just because the business has a top-notch BBB rating. You should check in with your friends and family and ask them about their experiences with the lender and read customer reviews online.
College Ave doesn't have any recent public controversies, so you might decide you're comfortable taking out a student loan with the company.
College Ave Student Loans Competitors
College Ave vs. Sallie Mae Student Loans
If you have good credit, you'll likely get a better APR with College Ave than with Sallie Mae student loans, as College Ave has a lower minimum rate.
Neither company will charge origination fees or prepayment penalties, but you will pay a 5% late payment fee, up to $25, with both lenders.
College Ave will give you your rate and tell you if you've been approved for a loan via a soft credit check, which will have no impact on your credit score. With Sallie Mae, the lender will perform a hard credit inquiry to determine your eligibility, which might negatively affect your credit score.
College Ave vs. Discover Student Loans
College Ave has a lower minimum APR to Discover student loans, and both have similar maximum APRs. College Ave may be the better choice if you have an excellent credit history.
Discover has only one standard term available on its undergraduate student loans, 15 years, while you can choose from term lengths of five, eight, 10, and 15 years with College Ave.
How we rated College Ave student loans
We rate all student loan products in our reviews and guides on a 1-5 scale. The overall rating is a weighted average that takes into account seven different categories, some of which are judged more heavily than others. They are:
Interest rate (20% of rating)
Fees (20% of rating)
Term lengths (15% of rating)
Repayment options while in school (15% of rating)
Borrower accessibility (15% of rating)
Customer support (7.5% of rating)
Ethics (7.5% of rating)
Each category's weighting is determined based on its importance to your borrowing experience. Rates and fees have the most significant impact on the total cost of your loan, so we weigh those the most heavily. Customer support and ethics are still crucial parts of the borrowing experience, but do not directly tie to a student loan's terms, so they have less of an impact on the overall rating.
Ryan Wangman was a reporter at Personal Finance Insider reporting on personal loans, student loans, student loan refinancing, debt consolidation, auto loans, RV loans, and boat loans. He is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).In his past experience writing about personal finance, he has written about credit scores, financial literacy, and homeownership. He graduated from Northwestern University and has previously written for The Boston Globe. Learn more about how Personal Finance Insider chooses, rates, and covers financial products and services here >>
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