Updated: June 3, 2024

Ascent Graduate Student Loan Review

General Graduate Student Loans

Ascent Student Loans logo
Ascent Student Loans
Fixed apr
5.29% - 15.96%
Variable apr
7.60% - 16.34%
Repayment terms
7, 10, 12, 15 years

Rewards: Auto-Debit Discount, Graduation Reward, Current Customer Discount

Yearly Borrowing Limit: $200,000

Overall Borrowing Limits: $2,001 (minimum, $6,001 for borrowers with a MA permanent address), $400,000 (aggregate maximum)

Cosigner Terms: Cosigner is optional, offers Cosigner Release after 12 months of on-time payments

The bottom line

Ascent's graduate loan provides remarkable flexibility when it comes to repayment, having a cosigner, and satisfying credit requirements. We rate them as one of the best lenders because of their lenient terms and generous rewards.

Pros
  • Offers cosigned and non-cosigned loan options
  • Offers a graduated repayment plan
  • You can borrow up to the full cost of attendance
Cons
  • Only offers a 10-year repayment term for Borrowers choosing the Fixed Rate
  • They charge a fee on late payments

Full review

You’ll notice we rate Ascent highly compared to other lenders, and there’s good reason for that. Their loans are flexible when it comes to repayment and less stringent when it comes to qualifying. 

Here’s what makes their graduate school student loans special: they provide cosigned and non-cosigned loan options, they offer a graduated repayment plan, and you can borrow up to the full cost of attendance at your school. Like other lenders on our list, they don’t charge application, origination or guarantee fees, and they offer fixed and variable interest rates (which are among the lowest in the market). If you choose to repay your loan early, they won’t charge you prepayment penalties. And when it comes to rewards, borrowers enjoy an auto-debit discount, graduation reward and current customer discount, plus a referral program.

Too good to be true? Well, like anything in life, there are drawbacks. You can borrow up to the full cost of attendance with Ascent, but that is limited to an annual and aggregate maximum of $400,000.

Ascent Student Loans - General Graduate Student Loans

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Savingforcollege.com provides our readers with free access to objective information, articles and tools to help them make informed decisions about saving and paying for education. We are able to do this because we are compensated by our partners, including some private student lenders. Some, though not all, of the products featured here are offered by partners who may pay us a sales commission. Our partnerships do not influence our ratings or reviews, which are based on in-depth research and objective methodologies, though they may influence which products we write about and where those products appear on our site. Our opinions are our own.

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