Apr. 29, 2021

3 min read

College Ave Summary

College Ave offers private student loans and refinance loans. It is suitable for people looking for flexibility and ease of use, and offers loans with 5 to 20 year terms.

Pros

High maximum refinancing amounts, up to $300,000
No application or origination fees

Cons

Maximum loan terms is only 20 years
Little clear information about minimum credit scores and income

College Ave at a glance

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Editorial score

College Ave View Rates

College Ave at a Glance

College Ave offers flexible private undergraduate and graduate student loans, parent loans, and refinancing options for student loans. The terms are flexible with a choice of repayment terms, and fixed or variable interest rates. There are no origination or application fees, cosigners are accepted, and the application is fast, simple, and entirely online. You can cover up to $300,000 for graduates of medical, dental, veterinary, or pharmacy degrees.

Choose your repayment term between 5 and 20 years
Pay only the interest for up to 2 years
Fast, simple online application in 3 minutes
No application or origination fees

Suitable for?

The high loan refinancing amount for regular graduates, and even higher maximum loan amount for medical, dental, pharmaceutical and veterinary graduates, make it a good choice for anyone carrying a particularly high amount of student debt. It’s also an excellent choice for graduates who can’t afford to make large, regular payments immediately, but hope to land a well-paying job in the near future.

Loan Features

College Ave's biggest feature is its ease of use. The application process is simple, and approval comes quickly. It also offers a large amount of flexibility for refinancing student loans, since you can choose any term between 5 and 20 years. You can also choose fixed or variable interest rates. College Ave refinances both private and federal student loans and offers refinancing with or without loan consolidation. Finally, application is free with no application or origination fees to pay.

No application or origination fees
Fast and simple application process
Fixed and variable rates
Save 0.25% on your interest rates using auto-pay
Refinance student loans

The Application Process

Applying for student loan refinancing with College Ave is fast and entirely online. You’ll just need to fill out a simple form to provide information about your current employment, the school you graduated from, and other basic personal information. It takes about 3 minutes to apply, and you'll get an instant response with a range of rates and fees for you to review and choose whether or not to proceed.

College Ave accepts both federal and private student loans for consolidation and refinancing and permits you to apply with a cosigner for a better rate. Before applying to refinance federal loans, you should bear in mind that, like with all private refinancing options, you could be giving up federal loan benefits, such as public service forgiveness and economic hardship programs.

Loan Terms - Essentials

To apply for student loan refinancing, you need to have at least $5,000 of student loan debt and have studied at one of the eligible schools listed on the College Ave website. You also must be a US citizen, aged over 18, and have a valid social security number. College Ave does have a minimum credit requirement and accepts cosigners for borrowers who don’t meet those terms, but it’s difficult to discover what the specific credit rating and income requirements are. In general, you’ll need a credit rating of 680 or more to qualify for refinancing. College Ave doesn’t charge any application or origination fees and does offer no-commitment quotes, so you can apply and then consider your options.

You must be over 18 years of age
You must have graduated from an eligible school
You must have at least $5,000 of student loan debt
You need to meet minimum credit and income requirements or bring in a cosigner who does

Repayment Terms

Although some lenders have longer terms, College Ave lets you choose any term length between those maximum and minimum options. If you pay using auto-pay, you'll get a 0.25% discount on your rates.

How Safe is It?

College Ave uses a secure website with SSL technology protection and an HTTPS URL. It is committed to keeping your information secure and promises never to request sensitive personal or financial information via email. College Ave's privacy policy is transparent and clear, with full explanation about the ways in which it will use your personal and financial information. College Ave will share it with business partners and service providers, but it will never sell your details.

Help & Support

College Ave offers customer support via email and telephone. There is a range of email addresses and phone numbers to use, depending on whether you are applying for a student loan or a refinance loan, or are already repaying a student, graduate, or parent loan or a refinance loan. The email address for general inquiries is studentloans@collegeave.com. Phone lines are open from 9am to 8pm from Monday to Friday for student loans or student loan refinances.

Deep Dive into Pros and Cons

The overall quality of service College Ave provides is excellent, but certain areas of its offerings could be improved:

The company is still not affiliated with all learning institutions in the country, meaning that some schools may not meet funding requirements
The company does not service the loans it extends, meaning that support may vary
Loan repayment terms could be extended to cover longer durations

Even with some areas for improvement, many of the company’s characteristics put College Ave head and shoulders above the competition:

It's customization for loans is at the head of the industry
The application process takes only a few minutes
Repayment periods offer more flexibility to students and professionals
No prepayment penalties encourage and reward quicker loan repayment

Summary

Overall, College Ave offers an easy to use and flexible approach to student loan refinancing. The high maximum loan amounts and flexible repayment terms are attractive to every graduate, and the fast online application process and response time without any application or origination fees mean that you have nothing to lose by applying.

Physical Address

College Ave Student Loans

233 N. King St.

Wilmington, De

19801

College Ave View Rates

Disclaimers

College 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.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.$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.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. Information advertised valid as of 1/27/2021. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation.

Written by

Bestmoney Staff

Our editorial staff consists of writers who are knowledgeable about financial services. We specialize in simplifying the process of choosing the right provider for your needs.

Trustpilot reviews

See what some costumers are saying about College Ave

Poor

•

Reviews 66

Excellent

64%

Great

14%

Average

Poor

Bad

15%

sam elghanian

2 days ago

DO NOT WORK with College AVE !!

DO NOT WORK with College AVE !!! College AVE is completely corrupt to the core. They have provided a student loan to us on 4/11/23 and 4/12/23 that we have been trying to close more than 5 times in the following month. The first three time they said there is no amount due and the interest is deferred. After calling them the fourth time, they said I have an amount past due. I spent 90 minutes on giving them my bank information to pay off the whole amount of the loan. I was given a transaction ID number for the payment. Three days later I received a call from their collection department for a past due amount. The collection department and the customer service did not have any records of my previous conversations and the final payment. I had to spend another 90 minutes to explain and provide my banking information again. Requested to speak to a supervisor to go over the past recordings of my calls and conversations. No one was available !!!

k.f.

a month ago

HORRIBLE

I can’t wait to get this stupid loan paid off so I can be DONE with this scamming, sorry excuse for a company. I don’t have a very high principle balance but from the way I’ve been treated you’d think I was trillions in debt. I have recurring automatic payments set up on my account which regularly just don’t go through. On the occasions when my automatic payments fail I have reps from College Ave calling to harass and threaten both me and my MOTHER literally the next day. Sometimes they even start harassing us BEFORE the payment is even due. They will call my mother multiple times in one day making threats and being extremely aggressive when the loan isn’t even in her name!!!! The amount due that they’re attacking us over? Twenty. Five. Dollars. So, if you’re a fan of being verbally assaulted by service reps and getting a barrage of phone calls, emails, and letters threatening you with collections/legal action for THEIR mistakes, go for it!

alexandria blair

2 months ago

Acts like a SCAM

I was finally in a financial place where I could set up autopay and when I did, the payments never went through, I was never notified, and after a few months I realized they weren't taking them and I called them and they told me that I HAD to pay $810 right then to do anything with my account and there's no way I'm paying that when it was supposed to be taken care of. It's fraudulent activity. They also decided to change my monthly payment to over $200 without telling me.

loyd stearman

3 months ago

Shady policy changesChange in payment policy after loan…

Change in payment policy after loan established asking for bank account info. Would not recommend.

jenna t

4 months ago

I regret trusting CollegeAve. Reconsider who you loan from

I took out a student loan with CollegeAve 3 years ago. I’m a big fan of automatic payments and have never missed one. That was until a week ago. In December I changed my payment method on my student loan to a credit card instead of an ACH transfer. I have email confirmation of this, however CollegeAve withdrew the money from my old bank account which saddled me with overdraft fees from both parties. Usually I transfer money to that account to cover that payment, but since I wanted to earn credit card points, I didn’t this time around. Despite having emails with CollegeAve confirming their mistake, I was told by their servicing department that they cannot take the emails they sent me into consideration. Their electronic records also reflect that I only made my credit card the default payment method on the 28th which is totally incorrect as I had checked my recurring payment method on the 25th when I was first notified of the overdraft. The woman I spoke with on the phone even confirmed that people have had issues in the past with changing their recurring payment method. Another woman called me to collect the missed payment and said services would be able to look at the emails and make things right… but services is who I spoke to already! They won’t take responsibility for their mistakes, even technical ones like this. Their website and app are both terribly slow. How disappointing. I’m refinancing and getting out of this immediately.

lauren bergmann

6 months ago

Horrendous

Horrendous. Apr is nauseating…already 5000 interest in 3 years of 31,000 and you cant even refinance without graduating. Refinanced to a fantastic company with early cosigner release and awesome apr….I was literally at over 12 with them lmao

tam

8 months ago

0 stars is more accurate

0 stars is more accurate. Horrible experience over the past 8 months with the application process for refinancing. Forced to use this horrid company due to an equally horrid school. No updates provided, inaccurate and inconsistent information provided on each call, documents missing although uploaded, no calls or emails to report information is required, links that do not work. They provide apologies, but make no attempt to prevent the same problems from happening again. How can a simple application be so tedious and cumbersome.

deidra bourland

9 months ago

BEWARE OF INTEREST!

While getting the loan was easy - BEWARE - your fixed rate is charge at a daily rate so basically you are charged interest EVERY DAY on your balance. Took me quite a few online chats to finally get them to explain how I'm getting charged interest basically every week and this is why. I was charged interest 3 times in August and 4 times in July calculated on the daily balance. It will be near impossible to pay off without lump sums. Go to a bank if you have to, do not do this.

cmbdiesel

2 years ago

Misrepresentation of actual interest rates.

Bait and switch. They advertise great rates, but when a person with a 800+ credit score and exceptional debt to income ratio gets the highest of posted rates, it's a scam. I would recommend Big Tony down at the track before College Ave.

2 years ago

AVOID

Their interest rates are CRAZZZYYYYY please save yourself a hardship credit check and go somewhere else.

kari lind-tufte

4 years ago

Don't Trust This Company

We had a horrible experience with College Ave. We were approved for a student loan at a fixed interest rate when the college determined we didn't need as big of a loan as we first applied for. We were told by College Ave that we needed to cancel and reapply but the original interest rate would still be honored. After reapplying, we were approved for a much higher interest rate. After two weeks of calling and talking to a different representative each time who verified that we could get the original rate we were approved for, we were then told it had been too long since our original loan approval to receive the original rate! I'm convinced the whole thing was a scam, and they were banking on the fact that we would just accept the new, higher rate. Their customer service is awful. They NEVER returned my calls, and I'm truly convinced we were deliberately lied to by their customer service reps. Even when we asked to speak to a supervisor, we got nowhere. Needless to say, we did not get a loan with College Ave. We chose one of their competitors whose representatives returned our calls promptly, were able to actually answer our questions, and ended up giving us a better interest rate than College Ave. I would not recommend getting a loan from this company. I would not trust them!

zachary w

5 years ago

Horrible Customer Service

I'm not sure if this review should go to College Ave or Nationwide Bank, the loan servicer. I was able to easily apply to receive funding for my student debt. As I was actively making payments to reduce the balance of my loan, there were several situations where I wanted to make overpayments to try and reduce my balance as quick as possible. I was told these overpayments would go to "future payments" and not to the principal balance. This means that I would still continue to accrue interest as though I made no overpayment. (Be aware to anyone trying to save on interest!) Thankfully, though, I was able to pay off my student loan relatively quickly. But this was just the beginning. It only got worse from here. When I made a large payment to pay off the loan, I inadvertently overpaid my remaining balance bringing my balance into the negative. I was told I would receive a refund in 45 days. That seemed a little ridiculous that it would take so long but I accepted it. 55 days after paying off my loan I called in to check on the status of my refund. Customer Service was unable to help me and said they needed to wait on Accounting to confirm it was sent. I waited another week before hearing my check was sent. It is now a month later, I still haven't received the check they said was mailed to me. I have called Customer Service several times but they keep telling me they are waiting on Accounting. The Customer Service reps have never returned any of my calls as they said they would nor have I heard anything about the status of my refund. I would recommend NOT doing business with this company.

chris

5 years ago

Opinion of CASL

Good customer service the few times I called, but it was confusing on whether or not I had secured my loan for the fall. My mother and co signer was receiving emails saying that she need to send in a picture of her SSN and I was getting ones that said I was all good for the loan. So I was unsure if I was all set with the loan or not.

lisa

5 years ago

Online process is extremely easy

Online process is extremely easy and customer service is readily available and amazing if needed.

rodney

5 years ago

College Ave Student Loans

College Ave Student Loans was fairly easy to use. No complaints.

paul

5 years ago

Quick response to your loan application…

Quick response to your loan application and very patient with your College

jose

5 years ago

Thank you

Thank you, my experience was great.

theresa s

5 years ago

SO FAR APPLICATION AND PROCESS WAS…

SO FAR APPLICATION AND PROCESS WAS EASY, IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING SO HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE JUST AS EASY GOING FORWARD DURING THE COLLEGE YEARS..

chris

5 years ago

Easy process and great to work with.

wayne

5 years ago

easy to work with.no problems at…

easy to work with.no problems at all.they were always on top of things.i will do business again next year.thank you ever so much

greg

5 years ago

The process was very easy and everyone…

The process was very easy and everyone was helpful. In the end I was very unhappy with the final interest rates. I now have the feeling our relationship will not be improving.

b.anne

5 years ago

Process was simple and stress-free.

jung

5 years ago

Easy step

It was fast, easy

taylor

5 years ago

This was a super efficient way to get…

This was a super efficient way to get my loans! It was fast, efficient, easy to use, and was approved in 3 days. I was always informed on what was going on with my loan. Would recommend to anyone

gerald

5 years ago

Great site to apply for student loans

Great site to apply for student loans. I was able to apply and get approved for the loan my Son needed in just a few minutes. Very easy to follow

roberto

5 years ago

I am completely satisfied.

josenelly

5 years ago

Their process is always very seamless…

Their process is always very seamless and easy to contact them!

andre

5 years ago

I don't have any bad thing to say!

marine

5 years ago

My experience with this company

Definitely, I would recommend this company to my friends.

richard

5 years ago

Takes less than 10 minutes and you have…

Takes less than 10 minutes and you have an answer right away.

anna

5 years ago

Thank you for your prompt actions on…

Thank you for your prompt actions on our loans, and for your customer service

samantha

5 years ago

Very fast and easy to use application…

Very fast and easy to use application system. Rates are decent. Would recommend.

caprice

5 years ago

Finished the last course will wait on…

Finished the last course will wait on my diploma. Without this money I wouldn’t be able to get it thank you.

amanda barnes

5 years ago

EASY APPLICATION TO FILL OUT

EASY APPLICATION TO FILL OUT. QUICK AND TIMELY RESPONSE. GREAT RATES!!

ashlea

5 years ago

Everything was so easy from applyiing…

Everything was so easy from applyiing to payments!

jelissa

5 years ago

Very Easy Process

Found the process to be very smooth! As well their customer service has helped me at no cost ! I would recommend!

ronald

5 years ago

Easy to process

Easy to process. Borrowing is a difficult thing to do and they made it as painless as possible

jay

5 years ago

CollegeAve, Simply easy

CollegeAve. This is the simplest way to apply for a college loan. Other sites require much more work. It's fast and convenient.

jessica

5 years ago

This was the easiest loan application I…

This was the easiest loan application I have ever done. Payment is sent directly to my college, and I haven’t had any worries. The repayment schedules are flexible to work with my budget, too.

jj. babu

5 years ago

idk they helped me in a time of need i…

idk they helped me in a time of need i suppose, so i am truly grateful to receive funding for school this way!

jimmy mckelvy

5 years ago

Easy to apply

I was kept in touch with progress. It was not a long progress

noshin

5 years ago

They have great customer service and…

They have great customer service and despite a few minor miscommunications with my university, everything got worked out and now I’m able to get ahead in my degree with my summer classes!

naresh

5 years ago

Excellent

I was apply student loan. I really appreciate done this my loan. Thanks

jycj

5 years ago

Simple and easy!

todd

5 years ago

Very convenient

Very convenient, easy to navigate the process. Transparent on rate and total cost of loan.

jeremy

5 years ago

The only issues I have had seem to be…

The only issues I have had seem to be on my schools end. Customer service on College Ave's end has been great so far.

guadalupe

5 years ago

Loan

Quick,easy hassle free loan process.

john

5 years ago

Loan reviewEasy to apply

Easy to apply , timely disbursement , and the statements are fairly simple to understand .

carissa

5 years ago

Still haven’t gotten my loan yet

marjorie

5 years ago

They were prompt and helpful

They were prompt and helpful. Their loan interest rates are too high and the students ends up paying more than double the amount they borrowed. Their service was good and when we cancelled the loan they were prompt otherwise way to pricey

marta

5 years ago

Very happy

The whole process has been smooth and quickly. Very user-friendly system.

sandra

5 years ago

Quick & easy

Quick and straight forward process

teresa

5 years ago

Fast and amazing.

Fast, easy, and no hassle. Wish I had known about college Avenue three years ago and five loans ago

phillip

5 years ago

Quick response

Quick response! Easy to navigate!

logan

5 years ago

Enjoy the ease of access

imed jemai

5 years ago

Excellent experience

silvio

5 years ago

process very good and timely.

mr. o.

5 years ago

Great Place for a Loan(s)

When I cosign for my son's loans they ask me to fill out the terms and sign the loan. Then they say my son has to sign the loan. A few days later my son says what terms should I use? I tell him I already set the terms when I signed it. So he enters the same info I already put in. It's kind of confusing. Additionally, I have received an email saying all signatures have been received but they actually weren't. Both my son and I thought the loan went through when it had not. The college kept on posting the balance due for months. I finally called and they said the College Ave loan had not been finalized by my son. I'm appreciative they keep giving us loans but they need some kind of checklist to show the status of the loan. It all might be user error on my part but that was my experience. They also should put the loan terms in the documents online. I make copies when I sign them but it would be easier to click documents than look through my files. Setting up recurring payments and viewing balances online are super easy.

z. par

5 years ago

The customer service is pretty good

The customer service is pretty good. I was able to speak to an agent regarding my questions immediately. The application process was pretty easy and decisions are made quick.

gina

5 years ago

Best Decision Ever made my dreams of…

Best Decision Ever made my dreams of the future come true.

lilianna

5 years ago

Easy, Quick, Convenient

I’ve just taken my second loan. I like the flexibility in the terms. Also that I’m continuously updated throughout the process.

raymond

5 years ago

I happy with this company

I happy with this company. It is the first time I apply for a private loan and you have given me the opportunity to continue my education to obtain my degree. Yes, I would recommend this company to families, friends and neighbors. Sincerely, Raymond Banuelos

5 years ago

I would recommend

I've cosigned several times for my grandchildren, it's quick and easy. They send email reminders and keep you up to date so everything goes smoothly. I only wish the interest rate was lower!

melissa

5 years ago

College Ave,

College Ave, was extremely helpful and quick. The steps were quick and easy to understand. I had to call a few times to inquire some information and all of the customer service representatives were so kind and well informed.

mojgan

5 years ago

rates are too high

chad

5 years ago

Great Experience

Great Experience. Exactly what I needed to go to school.

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