Ascent Student Loans Review August 2025

Ascent offers private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as DACA recipients and international students. It also provides loans for parents of undergraduates and for professionals pursuing boot camps or career training. Founded in 2016, the company stands out for making loans available to students who don't have a cosigner or strong credit history.

This review covers who Ascent loans are best for, key pros and cons, eligibility requirements, and how to decide if they're the right lender for your education financing needs.

Ascent student loans review

Best for: No-cosigner loans

Ascent stands out for its no-cosigner loan options. Students can choose between:

• Outcomes-Based Student Loan: For students without a cosigner or established credit history. Approval is based on factors such as your school, major, GPA, degree program, and expected graduation date. This loan has no minimum income or credit history requirement, which is a common barrier to private student loans.
• No-Cosigned Credit-Based Loan: For students without a cosigner who have more than 2 years of credit history with a minimum credit score.

Pros and cons

Eligibility requirements

The eligibility requirements for an Ascent student loan depend on the type of college loan you're applying for. In general, for a credit-based student loan, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or have a cosigner who is
• Attend a college, career training school, or bootcamp that's on Ascent's list of eligible institutions
• Meet Ascent's minimum credit score requirement (not disclosed)
• Have a minimum annual gross income of $30,000
• Meet a monthly debt-to-income ratio
• Request a loan amount of at least $2,001; $6,001 in Massachusetts

Eligibility for Ascent’s Outcomes-Based Student Loan 

Ascent's Outcomes-Based Student Loan has no credit or income requirements, but applicants must meet these criteria:

• Be a college junior or senior enrolled full-time at an eligible school, or enrolled half-time and within 9 months of graduating
• Be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your state)
• Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or have DACA status with a valid Social Security number
• Maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher and meet your school’s satisfactory academic progress requirements

Ascent also considers factors such as your school, program, major, expected graduation date, and cost of attendance.

See Also: How To Get a Student Loan with Bad Credit 

Borrowing limits

Ascent requires a minimum loan amount of $2,001, or $6,001 for borrowers in Massachusetts. You can borrow up to your school’s certified cost of attendance for the academic year, minus any financial aid you’ve already received.

For its Outcomes-Based Loans, the maximum is $20,000 per academic year. Overall borrowing limits are $200,000 for undergraduate loans and $400,000 for graduate loans.

Current private student loan rates

Repayment terms

Ascent's credit-based loans (with or without a cosigner) offer five, seven, 10-, 12-, 15-, or 20-year repayment terms. Repayment options while you're enrolled in school include:

• Immediate full repayment
• Interest-only payments
• $25 fixed monthly payments
• Deferred repayment until after leaving school 

Ascent's Outcomes-Based Student Loans offer 10- or 15-year repayment terms. In-school repayment options include immediate monthly payments starting at disbursement or a progressive repayment plan that gradually increases payments over time.

Notable benefits 

Ascent offers several borrower-friendly features:

• Rate discounts: Depending on your loan type and application date, you can qualify for a 0.25, 0.50, or 1.00 percentage point interest rate discount for using autopay.
• Graduation reward: Earn 1% cash back on your principal balance (up to $50,000) when you graduate. You must enroll in autopay and provide proof of graduation to qualify.
• Bootcamp and career training funding: Loans are available for certain approved bootcamps and career training schools. Check Ascent’s approved school list of bootcamps and career schools before applying.
• No fees: Ascent doesn’t charge application, disbursement, prepayment, or late fees.
• Extended grace periods: Depending on your loan type, you may have a grace period of 9 to 36 months after graduation before repayment begins.
• Forbearance options: Forbearance programs are available for active-duty military service, temporary hardship, administrative needs, and natural disasters. In-school deferment is also offered.
• Cosigner release: You can remove your cosigner after making 12 consecutive, on-time monthly payments. 

What to consider before borrowing from Ascent

Ascent’s loan options can make private student loans more accessible, but there are important limitations to keep in mind:

• The Outcomes-Based Student Loan option is only available to college juniors and seniors who don’t meet Ascent’s standard credit requirements. Freshmen and sophomores without established credit must apply with a cosigner or seek another lender.
• To qualify for a credit-based loan without a cosigner, you must meet Ascent’s undisclosed minimum credit score and have at least 2 years of credit history. This applies to both undergraduate and graduate loans.

How Ascent compares with other lenders

How to apply for an Ascent student loan

Applying for an Ascent loan is an online process you can complete in a few minutes:

1. Prequalify online: Visit AscentFunding.com and select “Apply Now.” Provide your personal details, school information, and cosigner information (if applicable) to see what rates and terms you prequalify for. 
2. Complete the full application: If you’re satisfied with your prequalification offer, you can submit a formal application and select your repayment plan.
3. Undergo a hard credit check: Ascent will run a hard credit inquiry, confirm your enrollment with your school, and may request additional documents.
4. Receive disbursement: Once approved, Ascent sends the loan funds directly to your school.

Why you can trust our Credible experts

The Credible editorial team is independent and unbiased. Partners do not influence our editorial content. To help you find the best student loan for your situation, we conduct thorough research and analyze thousands of lender data points. Using data-driven methodologies, we score criteria that are important to you. This allows us to objectively rank student loan lenders and products. To learn more, read our methodology below.

Methodology

To determine Ascent’s lender rating, Credible collected more than 1,000 points of data on two dozen private student loan companies and evaluated them on several different categories: repayment options, eligibility, interest rates, loan terms, and customer support. We assigned a score out of five stars to each lender based on our findings. Below are the weightings assigned to the general categories for the best student loan companies — which comprise individual criteria that are also weighted.

• Repayment options: 30%
• Eligibility: 25%
• Interest rates: 20%
• Loan terms: 15%
• Customer support: 10%

While the best lender for you will depend on your unique needs and financial circumstances, these findings should help answer your questions and assist you in your search for the best student loan.

Learn more about our methodology.