Ascent Reviews

Ascent is a private student loan company with loan choices for cosigned and non-cosigned loans for undergraduate and graduate students (including MBA, medical, dental, law, general graduate and Ph.D. students). U.S. citizens, permanent residents and international and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students may be eligible for its loans.

Ascent partners with more than 2,200 colleges across the country, as well as various accelerated learning programs to offer bootcamp loans. These loans have many of the same benefits as traditional student loans, and they’re designed for those looking to change careers.

Ascent offers a 1% cash-back graduation reward and a discount for automatic debit payments. Loans have no prepayment penalties and no application, origination or disbursement fees. You can take out a loan to cover all of your tuition and eligible living expenses (up to $200,000 on college loans).

For undergraduate students with no credit or cosigner or those who don’t meet the income or repayment capacity requirements, there’s an option of a future income-based loan. This loan uses alternative factors like school, major and GPA to help students get a non-cosigned loan.

You’ll start by applying to pre-qualify for a student loan on Ascent’s website. You’ll have a chance to see if your school is eligible and what loan options are available to you. Some options you’ll have are flexible repayment plans and the ability to start making payments after graduation.

Once you’ve made your choice, you can apply on Ascent’s website. You’ll know immediately after submitting your application if you pre-qualify. The company completes only a soft credit pull at this stage, so your credit score won’t be affected. If you aren’t approved, Ascent allows you to add a co-signer to bolster your application.

Once you accept your offer and select a repayment plan, you’ll have to upload some required documents to your portal. From there, Ascent sends the student loan to your school for certification. Once the contract is in place, you’ll repay the loan according to its terms.

Student loan rates vary based on the type of loan, borrowing amounts, whether the loan is cosigned, your credit scores and other factors. Possible undergraduate student loan APR rates are:

• Cosigned credit-based loan: 2.13% to 10.35% for variable; 3.58% to 11.95% for fixed
• Non-cosigned credit-based loan: 3.85% to 10.35% for variable; 5.42% to 11.95% for fixed
• Non-cosigned future income-based loan: 8.94% to 12.94% for variable; 10.24% to 14.50% for fixed

Credit-based loans have repayment terms of five, seven, 10, 12, and 15 years and deferred repayment or in-school interest-only repayment. Ascent’s future income-based loan repayment terms are 10 or 15 years and deferred repayment.

Graduate student loans start with variable APRs between 2.10% and 11.86% and fixed rates between 3.49% and 13.46%. The exact ranges depend on your program of study. Repayment terms of seven, 10, 12, 15, and 20 years are available.

Ascent is an award-winning, reputable private student loan lender. Its flexible repayment terms let borrowers pay back their loans in time frames that best suit them. If you ever need to refinance your loan, you’ll have to look elsewhere, as Ascent doesn’t offer this service.

Because Ascent offers future income-based loans, it’s a good option for borrowers with little to no credit history. And since Ascent lets you finance the full cost of tuition plus eligible living expenses, it works for students entering school with little money in the bank. It also works with DACA and international students.