Ascent Funding is one of the best private student loans finance companies available in over 2200 schools across the United States. They empower students to achieve their educational dreams by offering different loan options. These loan options depend on your year in school and financial situation. So no matter how bad your credit looks, Ascent can help you finance your education.
Ascent is an Award-Winning education finance company recognized by Forbes Advisor, NerdWallet, DollarGeek, and other student loan rating companies.
They are on a mission to help millions of students like you by providing access to education every year. Ascent believes you shouldn’t be hindered from achieving your dreams through quality education just because you have a bad credit score. So irrespective of your economic background and disciplines, Ascent has a private student loan for you.
Pros and Cons of Ascent Funding:
No matter how great a company could be, there are always a few flaws. No company is 100% when it comes to customer satisfaction. But before we explore these flaws, you should at least know the Pros.
Pros of Ascent Funding:
1. Ascent offers a Non-Cosigned Future Income Based Loan:
This loan is designed for eligible juniors and seniors based on factors like your Major, GPA(Grade Point Average), and your Future-Predicted income. Ascent is one of the very few US student loan lenders offering this feature.
So unlike other private student loan lenders, you don’t require a cosigner or good credit history to get this loan from Ascent.
2. Automatic Payment Discounts:
If you set an automatic deduction of your student loan from your bank account, Ascent rewards you with up to a 2% discount. Having up to a 2% discount means you will get out of student debt earlier. You will also pay less amount than other lenders who do not offer such benefits.
3. No Fees for applying and receiving funds:
Most private lenders will charge you fees like; origination fees, disbursements, or early repayment fees. But Ascent doesn’t charge you any fees.
4. Graduation Cashback Reward:
Have you ever heard of receiving cashback on student loans after graduation? Ascent offers a 1% cashback reward after graduation. Once you graduated and didn’t default on your payments, Ascent will send a direct deposit of 1% of your principal loan amount. There are other requirements you must meet, which can be found on their cashback page.
5. $80,000 in Scholarships:
Every month, Ascent grants $1000 scholarships to multiple students who got funding from them. If you win these scholarships just once or multiple times, it can help you cover school-related expenses. You can pay for books, rent, groceries, transportation, and more.
6. Earn money through Referrals:
You can earn up to $525 for each friend you referred to Ascent, and they get a student loan. This referral program doesn’t end with you getting paid. Your friend also gets paid. Here is how it works;
- You will earn $25 when a college friend you referred gets approved for a student loan with Ascent.
- Once your friend’s loan is funded and disbursed, you will earn an additional $500.
- Your friend also gets $100 when their loan is funded and disbursed.
7. Access To College Education ROI Calculator:
Most students enroll in college without having a broad overview of how well they can succeed financially after graduation. Ascent understands this problem and solves it by providing you with a College Education ROI(Return On Investment) Calculator. This calculator will help you in making an informed decision when choosing your major.
Ascent’s College ROI Calculator evaluates colleges across the US and allows students to find the school and degree program that gives them the best return on their investment.
8. You have up to 24 months of hardship forbearance available:
If you lose your job, have a medical emergency, or any other financial hardship, you can enter into a private student forbearance. Forbearance on Ascent enables you to postpone your loan payments for up to three months at a time. You also can postpone payments for up to 24 months over the life cycle of your student loan.
Cons of Ascent Funding:
1. Non-cosigner loans are not available for first-year and second-year students:
If you are a freshman or a second-year student, you require a cosigner to qualify for a loan. Only juniors, seniors, or graduate students are eligible for a loan without cosigners. If you are also an international student, you are not eligible for their non-cosigner student loans. You must be a US citizen or have permanent residency status.
What Types of Private Student Loans do Ascent Offer?
Ascent offers different kinds of private student loans. These loans are tailored for specific demographics. Below, I have grouped these different loans demographically.
1. College Loans (Undergraduate and Graduate Loans):
These loans are designed for undergraduates and graduate students at over 2,200 colleges across the United States. As a student, you can get funded up to $200,000 to cover your school-related expenses and tuition for your entire program.
Graduate students can apply for a private student loan for Dental School, Law School, Medical School, Business School, and General Graduate School. So the possibilities are endless.
Suppose you are applying for a graduate student loan. In that case, you can be eligible for a Cosigned and Non-cosigned Credit-Based Loan.
Undergraduate students can also qualify for Cosigned Credit-Based Loan, Non-Cosigned Credit-Based Loan, and Non-Cosigned Outcome-Based Loan.
If you don’t understand these loan types, here is just a brief description:
Cosigned Credit-Based Loan:
This loan type is when you need a cosigner who has a good credit score to sign for a loan along with you. By signing the loan with you, the cosigner legally agrees to share the responsibility of repaying the loan in full if you can’t.
With a cosigned credit-based loan, you can borrow from $2001 – $200,000 at a 1.50% – 9.58% (variable APR) or 2.97% – 11.44% (Fixed APR) interest rates. You have the following options to pay your loan in full; 5years, 7years, 10years, 12years, or 15years.
You can start making payments 9 months after you graduate. While in school, you can be paying only the interest rates, and the minimum payment amount is $25.
To be eligible, you have to be enrolled at least half-time in your program. You must be a US citizen with a cosigner who is either a US citizen or a permanent resident. Suppose you are an international student or student with DACA(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) status. In that case, you also need a creditworthy cosigner who is a US citizen or a permanent resident.
Non-Cosigned Credit-Based Loan:
This loan type is for borrowers without any credit history and who don’t meet the minimum income requirement for a certain amount.
You can borrow from $2001 up to $200,000 at a 4.08% – 11.08% (Variable APR) or 5.65% – 12.95% (Fixed APR) interest rates. The term options are 5years, 7years, 10years, 12years, or 15years.
For the repayment options, you can start making payments 9 months after leaving school. You also have the opportunity to only pay the interest rate while in school. The minimum payment amount is $25 based on how much you owe.
To be eligible, you need to be enrolled at least half the time to complete your studies. You must be a US citizen or permanent resident and a DACA student. You must have at least two years of credit history and meet the credit and income requirements.
Non-Cosigned Outcome-Based Loan:
This loan option is for juniors and seniors without any credit score and at least a 2.9 GPA. But if you have a credit score, it should meet the minimum requirement of 680.
You can borrow from $2001 to $200,000 at a 8.92% – 11.33% (Variable APR), or 10.30% – 12.46% (Fixed APR) interest rates. The terms are either 10 years or 15 years. You can start making repayments 9 months after leaving school.
To be eligible, you should be enrolled full-time or graduating within the next 9 months. You must be a US citizen or a permanent resident.
2. Bootcamp Loans (career transformation loan):
Ascent also offers loans to attend Bootcamp studies if you want to pursue a professional career. Ascent has funded over 15000 students and professionals who wish to have a new career path or improve their skills.
With Bootcamp loans, the interest rates and terms differ from Bootcamp to Bootcamp. If you are interested in a Bootcamp Loan, you can apply here.
How is the Application Process to Get an Ascent Loan?
The application process only takes four simple steps that can be done entirely on Ascent’s application page. These steps are;
- You submit your application online and receive a preliminary decision within hours or the next business day.
- Once you are pre-qualified, you will get an offer which you have to review and accept. You will also have to choose a repayment plan.
- The next stage is for you to upload the required documents to the Ascent Portal. Ascent will take 1-2 business days to review your documents.
- If your documents are in order, your college loan will be sent to your school for validation. To make this process go faster, you can reach out to your school. But typically, it takes several weeks for your school to complete the validation since they handle a lot of student loan validations.
Once your school certifies your college loan, you will receive a final disclosure and disbursement dates.
But how can you check the status? To check the status of your loan application, you can call the Ascent Customer Service at 877-216-0876.
One important thing to note is that Ascent loans are only intended for education-related expenses like Tuition and Fees, Accommodation, Books, etc.
Bottom-Line:
Ascent has made it very simple and quick to get private student loans in the US. They offer one of the best customer services among Private Student Loan Lenders. They will guide you throughout your loan period and even provide you with budgeting tips and other benefits.
If you find this Ascent student loan review helpful, please do not forget to share it on your preferred social media platform. You will be helping other students who might be interested in this review article.
