Our goal at Ascent is to help students from all walks of life and with a broad range of backgrounds get access to the programs that interest them. We offer two possible ways to qualify for an Ascent Zero Percent Loan: on your own or with a cosigner. For the Merit America program applying with a cosigner will not change your loan terms or improve your chances of obtaining a loan.
To see if you pre-qualify for an Ascent Zero Percent Loan, submit an application. In the pre-qualification process, we’ll conduct a soft credit check with no impact to your credit score. After being conditionally approved and confirming your loan details, a hard credit check will be run to finalize the process.
Solo applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or DACA recipients. U.S. temporary residents may apply with a qualified U.S. citizen or permanent resident cosigner. All applicants must pass a credit review that checks for certain derogatory credit items; for example, as of 2/24/2023, certain derogatory credit items that may disqualify you are:
- You have accounts in collection greater than $15,000 (excluding medical debt or student loan debt)
- You are individually a debtor in open bankruptcy proceeding
This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and underwriting requirements may be subject to change. However, there is no minimum credit history or credit score required for loan approval for the Ascent Zero Percent loan.
While our application process asks for income and employment details, we won’t use income, employment, or your requested loan amount to evaluate your application.
