Ascent Funding Terms & Conditions

Before taking out private student loans, you should explore and compare all financial aid alternatives, including grants, scholarships, and federal student loans and consider your future monthly payments and income. Applying with a cosigner may improve your chance of getting approved and could help you qualify for a lower interest rate. Ascent college loans are funded by Bank of Lake Mills. Certain restrictions and limitations may apply. Ascent Student Loan products are subject to credit qualification, completion of a loan application, verification of application information and certification of loan amount by a participating school. Loan products may not be available in certain jurisdictions and certain restrictions, limitations; and terms and conditions may apply. Ascent is a federally registered trademark of Ascent Funding, LLC, the loan processor, and may be used by Bank of Lake Mills under limited license.

1. Competitive variable rates calculated monthly at the time of loan approval based on a margin plus the 30-day Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), rounded to the nearest 1/100th of a percent. The current 30-day SOFR Average is 0.050%, which may adjust monthly. Your interest rate may increase or decrease, based on the 30-day SOFR Average. Rates are effective as of 01/01/2022 and reflect an Automatic Payment Discount. Automatic Payment Discount is available if the borrower is enrolled in automatic payments from their personal checking account and the amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. (See Automatic Payment Discount Terms & Conditions.)
   • Undergraduate Loans: Variable rate loans have an Annual Percentage (APR) range between 1.47% – 11.31%. Fixed rate loans have an APR range between 3.28% and 13.02% based on your credit worthiness and your selected program. Rates reflect an Automatic Payment Discount of 0.25% (for Credit-Based Loans) on the lowest offered rate and a 1.00% (for Undergraduate Outcomes-Based Loans) discount on the highest offered rate. (See Undergraduate Loan repayment examples.)
   • Graduate Loans: Variable rate loans have an APR range between 1.46% and 10.81%. Fixed rate loans have an APR range between 3.21% and 13.02% based on your credit worthiness and your selected program. Rates reflect an Automatic Payment Discount of 0.25%. (See Graduate Loan repayment examples.)

2. Payments may be deferred. Subject to lender discretion, forbearance and/or deferment options may be available for borrowers who are encountering financial distress.

3. Making interest only or partial interest payments while in school will not reduce the principal balance of the loan. There are three (3) flexible in-school repayment options[1] that include fully deferred, interest only and $25 minimum repayment. Click here for a repayment example.

4. Flexible repayment plans may be offered with up to a twenty (20) year repayment term (for variable rate Graduate Medical and Dental School Loans), fifteen (15) year repayment term for other variable rate loans and a fifteen (15) year repayment term for fixed rate loans. Students must be enrolled at least half-time at an eligible school[2]. Minimum loan amount is $2,001. Click here for a repayment example.

5. Interest rate reduction of either 0.25% (for Credit-Based Loans) or 1.00% (for Undergraduate Outcomes-Based Loans) applies only when the borrower and/or cosigner sign up for automatic payments and the payment amount is successfully deducted from the designated bank account each month. The amount of the discount is dependent upon the loan product and credit history of the borrower at the time of application. Interest rate reduction(s) will not apply during periods when no payment is due, including periods of in-school, deferment, grace or forbearance, unless a regular payment amount has been arranged with the servicer. If you have two (2) consecutive returned payments for Nonsufficient Funds, we may cancel your automatic debit enrollment and you will lose the interest rate reduction. You will then need to re-qualify and re-enroll in automatic debit payments to receive the interest rate reduction. (See Automatic Payment Discount Terms & Conditions.)

6. All student applicants are required to complete a brief online financial literacy course as part of the application process to be eligible for funding.

7. Eligibility, loan amount and other loan terms are dependent on several factors which may include: loan product, other financial aid, creditworthiness, school, program, graduation date, major, cost of attendance and other factors. Aggregate loan limits may apply. The cost of attendance is determined and certified by the educational institution.

8. The legal age for entering into contracts is eighteen (18) years of age in every state except Alabama where it is nineteen (19) years old, Nebraska where it is nineteen (19) years old (only for wards of the state), and Mississippi and Puerto Rico where it is twenty-one (21) years old.

9. Undergraduate student borrowers with no credit score, as well as student borrowers that pass the minimum credit requirements, but fail income or repayment capacity requirements for the loan product may qualify for the Non-Cosigned Outcomes-Based Loan on the basis of a payment-to-outcome calculation based on several alternative factors which may include: school, program, graduation date, major, cost of attendance, and other factors that could allow for students to obtain a loan in their own name without a cosigner. Such borrowers are limited to selecting a deferred repayment plan, may not select a 5-year repayment term, and a fixed rate is only available upon selecting 10-year or 15-year repayment term. Additionally, students must:

• Be a college junior or senior enrolled full-time (or with an expected graduation date within 9-months of the date the loan application is submitted) in a degree program at an eligible institution.
• Be a U.S. citizen or have U.S. permanent resident status or Deferred Action Childhood Arrival (DACA) status.
• Have satisfactory academic performance of 2.9 GPA or greater.

[1] See Item 9 for limitations on students that qualify on the basis of a payment-to-outcome calculation.

[2] See Item 9 for limitations on students that qualify on the basis of a payment-to-outcome calculation.

Automatic Payment Discount Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions are applicable to eligible loan applications received on or after 01/27/2020.

• The current offered Automatic Payment Discount is an interest rate reduction of either 0.25% (for Credit-Based Loans) or 1.00% (for Undergraduate Outcomes-Based Loans).
• Eligibility for the Automatic Payment Discount is limited to borrowers that have an Ascent loan that was originated by Richland State Bank prior to 02/01/2021 or an Ascent loan originated by Bank of Lake Mills thereafter and are enrolled in and making automatic debit payments from their personal checking account and the amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month with the loan servicer.
• The loan must be current. Loans in a delinquency and/or default or charge-off status, or loans in modified or reduced repayment programs other than the Ascent Progressive Repayment program are not eligible.
• Your required minimum monthly payment amount must successfully be made on time.
• If you have a deferred repayment plan, you will still need to make a monthly payment of $1.00 or more while in school to be eligible for the Automatic Payment Discount.

Eligibility for the Automatic Payment Discount by repayment plan or status:

• Interest-Only Repayment: You are eligible to receive the Automatic Payment Discount when you are enrolled in automatic debit payments with the loan servicer and pay at least the in-school interest payment amount on-time each month during the in-school and grace periods. Full principal and interest payments will be debited when the loan enters repayment at the end of the grace period.
• $25 Minimum Repayment: You are eligible to receive the Automatic Payment Discount when you are enrolled in automatic debit payments with the loan servicer and pay at least the $25 minimum payment amount on-time each month during the in-school and grace periods. Full principal and interest payments will be debited when the loan enters repayment at the end of the grace period.
• Deferred Repayment: You are eligible to receive the Automatic Payment Discount only when a payment amount of at least $1.00 is debited from your account. You may satisfy this requirement by enrolling in automatic debit payments with the servicer and authorizing an optional additional fixed payment amount of at least $1.00 more than the minimum monthly payment. During deferment, the minimum monthly payment is zero ($0.00), but the fixed amount will be debited. When the loan enters repayment at the end of the grace period, full principal and interest payments plus the fixed payment amount will be debited.
• Full Principal and Interest Repayment (and Progressive Repayment): You are eligible to receive the Automatic Payment Discount when you are enrolled in automatic debit payments with the loan servicer and pay at least the required minimum principal and interest payment amount on-time each month.

Under any repayment options listed above, you may elect to include an optional additional fixed payment amount to be debited in addition to the required monthly minimum.

Automatic Payment Discounts are applied as a reduction in the rate at which interest accrues on an eligible student loan. This may change the amount of your minimum monthly payment, may change the total number of payments necessary to pay off your loan and may change the amount of your final payment.

The amount of the Automatic Payment Discount offered is dependent upon proprietary credit decisioning criteria used in rendering a loan approval. The available Automatic Payment Discount for a particular loan is disclosed to applicants upon presentation of the loan offer.

• It is your responsibility to notify the loan servicer if you believe the Automatic Payment Discount has not been applied correctly.
• No more than one Automatic Payment Discount may be applied to an eligible student loan.
• To enroll in automatic payments, you must contact Launch Servicing, directly after your loan has been disbursed:

Launch Servicing, LLC
P.O. Box 91910 | Sioux Falls, SD 57109
Phone: 877-354-2629
Email: [email protected]
Website: LaunchServicing.com

• The Automatic Payment Discount will begin after successful completion of your first payment that is made through automatic debit.
• If you cancel your enrollment in automatic debit, the Automatic Payment Discount will be discontinued as of the date of the last payment made through automatic debit.

These Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notice. We may change them at any time including, but not limited to, changing the eligibility criteria or imposing additional conditions.

Your Options to Modify or Pause Payments

Progressive Repayment Option

Upon graduation or no longer being enrolled at least half-time, borrowers may be eligible for the Progressive Repayment option. The Progressive Repayment option requires monthly payment amounts that start with an amount that is less than a fully-amortizing payment amount that step-up over time such that the loan would be fully paid within the original loan term. Ascent’s Progressive Repayment option helps make payments more affordable for students who are making payments on their Ascent loan upon graduation or are no longer enrolled at least half-time. If you submitted an Ascent loan on or after May 17, 2019, you may be eligible for Ascent’s Progressive Repayment option allowing you to reduce your current monthly payment that would gradually increase over time so that the loan would be fully paid off within the original loan term. To calculate your adjusted monthly payment amounts under the Progressive Repayment Option, please contact your loan servicer, Launch Servicing, directly after your loan has been disbursed:

Phone: 877-354-2629
Email: [email protected]
Website: LaunchServicing.com

Deferment & Forbearance

A borrower may request deferment through Launch Servicing in writing, or by completing and signing a deferment form and providing the appropriate documentation requested on the form. All deferments after the In-School period are provided solely at the lender’s discretion. Interest shall continue to accrue on loans during periods of authorized deferment. Unpaid interest is capitalized when the deferment period ends. Ascent Student Loans include the following deferment and forbearance options:

• Active Duty Military Deferment
• In-School Deferment
• Residency / Internship Deferment
• Temporary Hardship Forbearance
• Administrative Forbearance
• Natural Disaster / Declared Emergency Forbearance

Active Duty Military Deferment

A borrower is eligible for an Active Duty Military Deferment upon submitting an application for such and eligible documentation to the repayment Servicer showing that he or she is serving on active duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency or performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency.
• Active Duty Military Deferment is available up to a cumulative limit of 36-months.
• This deferment DOES extend the repayment term.

In-School Deferment

Student borrowers that have exited an In-School Status, either by separating from school (or dropping to less than half-time enrollment) and subsequently entering a repayment status prior to re-establishing at least half-time enrollment at an eligible institution, or by using the maximum allowable months of In-School Status, may be eligible for an In-School Deferment. Student borrowers must apply for an In-School deferment, and eligibility is based on verification of at least half-time enrollment at an eligible institution.
• This deferment DOES extend the repayment term.

Residency / Clerkship / Internship / Fellowship Deferment

Student borrowers may be eligible for a Residency / Clerkship / Internship / Fellowship Deferment if the student:
• Has been accepted into a Residency / Clerkship / Internship / Fellowship program which must be a supervised program; and
• Require that the student hold at least a bachelor’s degree before acceptance into the program; and
• Must either:
* Lead to a degree or certificate from an institution of higher education, a hospital, or a health facility that offers postgraduate training, or
* Be required before the student may be certified for professional practice or service, which must be verified by the relevant state licensing agency.
• This deferment DOES extend the repayment term.

Borrowers are limited to a total of 48 months of eligibility in increments of up to 12-months at a time for In-School & Residency / Clerkship / Internship / Fellowship Deferment described above.

Temporary Hardship Forbearance

Borrowers experiencing periods of financial difficulty may be granted forbearance. The forbearance period duration may be from a minimum of 1 month to a maximum of 3 months. A borrower may apply for up to 4 consecutive periods of Temporary Hardship Forbearance. A maximum of 24 total months of Temporary Hardship Forbearance may be granted during the life of the loan. Interest shall continue to accrue on loans during periods of authorized forbearance. Unpaid interest is capitalized when the forbearance period ends.
• This forbearance DOES extend the repayment term.

Administrative Forbearance

An administrative forbearance may be used for temporary suspension of collection activity while researching borrower disputes, awaiting bankruptcy and death documents, or for other circumstances as approved by the Lender. Interest shall continue to accrue on loans during periods of authorized forbearance. Unpaid interest is capitalized when the forbearance period ends.
• This forbearance DOES extend the repayment term.

Natural Disaster / Declared Emergency Forbearance

Student borrowers that are adversely affected by a natural disaster, a local or national emergency (declared by the appropriate government agency), or a military mobilization, may be granted Natural Disaster / Declared Emergency Forbearance for a period not to exceed 3 months. Interest shall continue to accrue on loans during periods of authorized forbearance. Unpaid interest is capitalized when the forbearance period ends.
• This forbearance DOES extend the repayment term.