College Ave Student Loan Refinancing Review

Know why you must know college ave student loan refinancing? Its benefits, features, drawbacks, things to know before refinancing.

Updated by Priya shah on 26th April 2023

College Ave is a private student loan lender that offers student loans for both new borrowers and students who want to refinance. Refinancing is available to graduates who have federal or private student loans. College Ave is considered to be the best for the students who want low variable interest rates and are financially self-sufficient repaying their loans after graduation. College Ave’s student loan refinancing is a good option, fit for borrowers having a strong credit score.

College Ave student loan refinancing provides low-interest rates and huge flexibility and is also a great option for creditworthy borrowers or students with a good cosigner that can qualify for its low variable rates.

College Ave is considered to be good for those with low student loan variable interest rates, interest-only repayment for refinancing, an international borrower with a U.S. citizen or permanent resident cosigner.

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College Ave student loan refinancing review

For the application of refinancing of federal or private student loans at any bank, you need to have a strong application to qualify at College Ave. The minimum credit score is 680 or one can include a cosigner with a good credit score and an annual income of at least $65000 can start with the application. College Ave refinancing stands out from its competitors by allowing borrowers to make interest-only payments on their loans for the first two years of repayments. Refinancing may not always be a good option if you have federal student loans. So be well aware of all the features and weigh the pros and cons before you be conclude to refinance with any private student loan lender. 

Eligibility requirements with College Ave

 To be eligible you will need to satisfy some criteria

  • Must be 18 or beyond 18 years old

  • Must be U.S citizen or permanent resident of the U.S

  • Must be graduated from a known university or college

Benefits of choosing College Ave

College Ave has several benefits, as the lender match its competitors, offering their borrowers, with:

  • Low fixed and variable interest rates

  • Deduction of 0.25% rate of interest for autopay

  • No extra charge for application or origination fees

  • No prepayment penalty

  • Can choose from different repayment options, from different year option

  • It doesn’t require a cosigner

But not every loan servicing company have the easy refinancing option, we have some few negative aspects:

The drawback of choosing College Ave

  • The late payment fee is $35 or maybe more sometimes

  • No availability of cosigner release

  • Forbearance is partially available

  • No refinancing of parent PLUS loans

  • Married couples don’t have the option of consolidation into a new refinanced loan

  • These loans are not available in the location called Maine

Interest rates and terms

Below are a few other important details to be aware of 

The maximum and minimum loan that can be refinanced - $5,000 to $300,000

Interest rates - Fixed: 4.44% - 15.32%

Loan terms offered - 5 - 20 years

A 0.25% interest rate reduction is provided on enrolling for the autopay feature. 

Contact information

For further queries, you can contact College Ave via

phone # : (844)-422-7502

Email: studentloans@collegeave.com

Office address for payments :

College Ave Student Loans

c/o University Accounting Services

P.O. BOX 5863, Carol Stream, IL 60197-5863

Working hours: 8 am - 6 pm; an exception for Tuesday 8 am - 7 pm ET


Worried about your college tuition? Find the best student loan for you


Why refinance your student loans with College Ave?

College Ave student loan was founded by ex-Sallie Mae executives, it prides itself on reliable customer service.

The customers familiar with College Ave gave a 4.8-star rating out of 5. Most of the users are completely happy and gave “excellent grades”. They also netted an A+ grade from the better business bureau. 

They feature a helpful customer service. The three best features worth highlighting in the College Ave refinancing review are:

1) Prequalify via 3-min application

To estimate your qualifications for the College Ave student loan refinancing without undergoing a credit inquiry and checking the credit score. You and your cosigner can use the lender’s prequalification tool. You will require just three pieces of information to complete the application:

  • Your annual income

  • Social security number

  • Borrowing amount

College Ave promises response and rate quote within three minutes. The site is completely mobile friendly and can be accessed from your tablet, smartphone, or your laptop. 

2) Low fixed and variable interest rates

Lower interest rates can give you better savings. You can choose your interest rate that signifies the factor of your choice according to your comfort and payment desire. College Ave’s student refinance loan offers tough and competitive rates. As per the latest record, only the first federal bank had a lower variable rate range among the major lenders. You only qualify for a 6.00% fixed interest rate for the same loan. If you have multiple private student loans and struggling to make multiple repayments. You can refinance them to a new loan with College Ave with a lower interest rate and occasionally better repayment terms are also offered with which you can lower monthly payments saving you money for your monthly expenditure. 

3) Choose the repayment term

One of the most competing online lenders is earnest, College Ave gives you the power to choose repayment options from 16 different term options, spanning from 5 to 20 years. College Ave student loan refinancing loan has a high level of flexibility that allows you to prepare a loan that fits your preferred repayment timeline. You can choose your desired monthly payment amount and decide on the loan term that is best for you. Choosing a proper repayment term can reduce the burden of extra monthly payments you make. Use the College Ave calculator to understand the interest rates and repayment terms you are eligible for after refinancing with them.

Learn more about What is Student Loan Refinancing?


Things to remember about College Ave student loan refinancing

However, the online lender reserves the bottom level of the rate ranges for applicants with high and strong credit score histories. The online application takes 3 min to complete and the credit decision can be made right away. A credit score of 680 is required for you to become eligible for refinancing, but you need a higher credit score to comparatively get a lower rate of interest. Except for interest rates, there are three more limitations to refinance your student loan with College Ave student loan refinancing. The college charges no origination or application fees for the loan process or any prepayment fees if you are choosing to pay your loan back early.

1) Eligibility criteria to satisfy

To qualify for refinancing, you need to be a U.S citizen or permanent resident who has graduated from a known college. This may be the important criteria to qualify. For instance, necessarily you don’t have to be a U.S residency, or even if you didn’t graduate before leaving the college, a College Ave refinancing loan maybe not relevant at all, but still, you may be eligible to qualify for the education debt. Citizen bank is known for working with such type of borrower. You are eligible to refinance with a lower credit score of about 600 and above. A cosigner with 750 above credit score can help you refinance with a lower interest rate. It's always important for College Ave to know that you have not filed for bankruptcy earlier.

2) No availability of release of the cosigner

Attaching cosigners for the processing of the student loan more than common for the borrower with a strong credit score. So strong scores significantly decrease the interest rate. If you apply to College Ave, it never offers the release of cosigner from the responsibility of repaying the debt if we fail to repay the debt. Even after so many on-time loan payments, you won’t be able to relieve your cosigner off the responsibility of the loan agreement. The release of cosigner may be important for you but it also allows you the opportunity to release your cosigner after the prompt payment after 12 months, and the routine credit check.

3) Forbearance program

Occasionally when you face a financial crisis you may fail to make your monthly payments. It is always smart to be prepared for what you don’t expect. In these conditions, you must check what each private loan lenders who are willing to refinance your student loans have got to offer you. A forbearance is an option you can use to postpone your repayments for a couple of months till your regain your financial stability. College Ave provides detailed information on its website about refinancing the loans. But the criteria need to be fulfilled by forbearance and financial hardship can pause your repayment option. The forbearance option is very rarely available on a case-by-case basis. 


Looking to refinance your student loans? Find the best student loan refinancing lenders.


Is College Ave student loan refinance right for you?

Qualification for the student loan is not easy but it’s easy to prequalify with College Ave, but it must meet your need for borrowing. The lender allows a low rate and a high degree of choice as it comes to the selection of loan terms. Better to get the best refinancing lender you should compare College Ave against other top-rated student loan refinancing companies and must enclose for definitely the best one. It is suitable for people who can select the term length, with high borrowing limits, and are helping people by favorable refinancing loans. If you are in a dilemma that if the College Ave student loan is right or not, you may compare your loan with other service lenders to get the best refinancing term. It all depends on how well you have filtered all the terms and conditions of the other companies for the most favorable and affordable loan you want. Never go for those service company that tries to manipulate you for their benefit but try choosing the company as per your comfort and the one which meets your requirements.

It will be important to understand if refinancing is a good option to consider. Consider researching finding the best lenders out there. Check the interest rates each lender provides so you can opt for the least interest rates. Then you can choose the lender and loan terms. Complete the application process by signing the documents and wait for the loan payoff. Any issues regarding refinancing, you can contact the customer care via email - refi@collegeave.com. And for general queries, students can drop a mail to studentloans@collegeave.com or call to the college Ave student loans phone number - 844-422-7502.