College Ave Student Loan Refinancing
College Ave Student Loans is a direct lender offering student loan refinancing with a variety of flexible terms. They handle undergraduate and graduate student loans, as well as parent loans and career loans with a fixed or variable interest rate.
While borrowers who refinance federal loans with a private lender lose some benefits of having a government-backed loan, College Ave grants forbearance or alternative payment plans on a case-by-case basis.
College Ave Student Loan Refinance Overview
| APR (fixed interest rate) | 3.34% – 5.69% |
| APR (variable interest rate) | 3.24% – 5.54% |
| Eligible loan types | Undergraduate student loans, graduate student loans, federal student loans, career loans |
| Refinance amount | $5,000 – $300,000 for dental, veterinary, pharmacy, and medical doctorate degrees
$5,000 – $150,000 for all other undergraduate and graduate degrees |
| Repayment terms | 5 – 20 years |
| Minimum credit score | Mid-600s |
| Lender type | Direct lender |
| Good for: | Graduate degrees for medical professions, students who have graduated and work full time |
College Ave Pros
- 0.25% interest rate discount if enrolled in auto-pay with monthly payments from bank account via ACH
- No application fees
- 16 options for loan terms of 5 to 20 years
- Borrowers can find out if they qualify and see personalized rate options with a soft credit check
College Ave Cons
- No defined option for loan forbearance
- No option to release co-signer before end of loan term
- Cannot refinance parent PLUS loans in the student’s name
Application Process
You can get started by receiving your personalized interest rate on the College Ave website. The entire process takes less than one minute. If you get through the pre-approval stage and want to apply for student loan refinancing formally, you’ll submit your pay stubs or recent tax returns, contact information and account numbers for your current student loans, as well as the balance of each loan.
College Ave will get your permission to do a hard credit pull to check your debt-to-income ratio and get your credit scores.
The formal application should take a few days to complete the process if you’re approved. Loan funding times vary greatly and depend on how quickly you provide any required documentation. You can keep tabs on the progress by contacting customer service quickly via the online chat option.
Get my rateTerms & Requirements
Loan Requirements
- Must be a permanent resident or citizen of the United States
- Must have at least an associate degree
- A minimum credit score in the mid 600s
- $65,000 minimum annual income
- A maximum debt-to-income ratio of 50%
- Borrowers who previously declared bankruptcy are not eligible
Loan Terms
College Ave’s APR rates are as follows:
- Variable: 3.24% – 5.54%
- Fixed: 3.34% – 5.69%
Interest rates vary according to credit score, income, and DTI ratio. Many qualifying borrowers have a credit score in the mid-700s.
Here are a few other key features of College Ave student loan refinancing:
- No origination or application fee
- No prepayment penalty
- Loan amounts from $5,000 to $150,000
- Maximum loan amounts for dental, pharmacy, medical, or veterinary doctorate degrees is $300,000
- Late fees are the lesser of $25 or 5% of the unpaid balance if payment is more than 15 days late
College Ave offers refinancing for undergraduate and graduate student loans. Borrowers can make bi-weekly payments with autopay. They can also choose to make payments larger than the minimum amount due.
Repayment Terms
College Ave does not offer in-school deferment of loan payments, nor do they have a defined forbearance policy. Members of the military are eligible for deferment of loan payments while serving on active duty. Borrowers may also get a deferment if they are involved in a natural disaster recognized by FEMA. College Ave will forgive the balance on the loan if the borrower dies or becomes totally & permanently disabled.
Borrowers can choose a loan term of between five and 20 years. While College Ave offers 16 different loan terms from which to choose, SoFi and CommonBond offer just five. Citizens Bank offers four different loan terms.
Get my ratePrivacy & Security
College Ave Reputation
College Ave has 57 reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.3 out of five stars. Only 4% of the reviews are classified as “bad” with poor customer service response time noted by the two reviewers who were unhappy with College Ave.
Of the 75% of reviews classified as “excellent” customers said they received exceptional service, they got through the entire loan process quickly and were kept up-to-date with timely communication from customer service.
College Ave has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). While there are only five reviews from College Ave customers on the BBB website, the company responded to negativity by solving the problem. This indicates that they have a responsive and conscientious customer service team to help if borrowers have problems getting their loans refinanced.
College Ave Privacy
The company collects and stores personal information offered by borrowers and potential borrowers. They use this information to provide offers that applicants indicate they may be interested in pursuing in the future. If you visit the College Ave website, you may see ads on other websites for their services in the future.
College Ave does not permit third-party advertisers to use personal information to market to their applicants. You can read their entire customer privacy policy to determine whether you are comfortable with their practices.
Customer Support
College Ave is a direct lender, so all applicants work directly with the customer service team throughout the process of paying off their current student loans with funds from a College Ave refinance loan.
You can call their toll-free customer service number, chat with College Ave representatives via their website, or email them if you have questions or concerns.
Final Thoughts
College Ave offers applicants the opportunity to find out if they qualify to refinance student loans with only a soft credit pull. There’s no risk to applicants, and you’ll get an immediate answer. They have a decent reputation, no prepayment penalties or origination fees, and have been refinancing student loans since 2014.
They stand out for offering a wide variety of repayment terms from five to 20 years. If you want flexibility and don’t mind giving up the perks of a federal student loan, College Ave should be on your list of lenders as you conduct research.
Address
233 N King Street,
Wilmington DE,
19801
Get my rateCollege Ave Student Loans products are made available through either Firstrust Bank, member FDIC or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. $5,000 is the minimum requirement to refinance. The maximum loan amount is $300,000 for those with medical, dental, pharmacy or veterinary doctorate degrees, and $150,000 for all other undergraduate or graduate degrees. Information advertised valid as of 01/27/2021. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as the borrower or cosigner, if applicable, enrolls in auto-pay and authorizes our loan servicer to automatically deduct your monthly payments from a valid bank account via Automated Clearing House (“ACH”). The rate reduction applies for as long as the monthly payment amount is successfully deducted from the designated bank account and is suspended during periods of forbearance and certain deferments. Variable rates may increase after consummation. College Ave payment example: This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a refi borrower with a Full Principal & Interest Repayment and a 10-year repayment term, has a $40,000 loan and a 5.5% Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $434.11 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $52,092.61. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. We have two trigger terms present, “Loan Amount” and “terms 5-20 years,” which our legal team is requiring disclosures. $5,000 is the minimum requirement to refinance. The maximum loan amount is $300,000 for those with medical, dental, pharmacy or veterinary doctorate degrees, and $150,000 for all other undergraduate or graduate degrees. Information advertised valid as of 03/25/2021. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a refi borrower with a Full Principal & Interest Repayment and a 10-year repayment term, has a $40,000 loan and a 5.5% Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $434.11 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $52,092.61. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary.
