# College Ave

> College Ave is a US education-finance company offering private undergraduate, graduate, parent and career loans, plus student-loan refinancing. Founded by former Sallie Mae executives Joe DePaulo and Tim Staley in 2014, it combines a digital application and repayment customization with bank origination partners and institutional funding. Thrivent became its majority shareholder in 2022.

- **Founded:** 2014
- **Headquarters:** Wilmington, United States
- **Founders:** Joe DePaulo (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO), Tim Staley (Co-founder)
- **Products:** Undergraduate student loans, Parent loans, Graduate and professional loans, STEM graduate loans, Career loans
- **Notable:** Completed a $161 million inaugural securitization in 2017., Became majority-owned by Thrivent in 2022., Firstrust arranged a $1 billion banking facility in 2024.

## Products & services

- **Undergraduate student loans** — Private education loans with fixed or variable rates and four in-school repayment approaches; school-certified borrowing limits apply.
- **Parent loans** — Private loans for parents financing a child’s education.
- **Graduate and professional loans** — Graduate financing, including dental, law, medical, MBA and health-professions products introduced as a suite in 2019.
- **STEM graduate loans** — Financing for eligible advanced STEM programs, with a nine-month grace period and a published maximum of $150,000.
- **Career loans** — Private financing for eligible career-training programs.
- **Student-loan refinancing** — Replaces eligible existing education debt with a new private loan; published term options run from five to 20 years.
- **Planning tools and repayment app** — Calculators, education-finance articles, prequalification and mobile loan-account management.
- **Ambition Mastercard (discontinued)** — Former secured student credit card issued by Evolve Bank & Trust; NerdWallet reported its discontinuation in 2026.

## Achievements

- Completed a $161 million inaugural securitization in 2017.
- Became majority-owned by Thrivent in 2022.
- Firstrust arranged a $1 billion banking facility in 2024.
- A 2025 Firstrust-sponsored profile reported more than $10 billion in cumulative loans.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Announced a STEM graduate loan on April 22.
- **2026-05** — Published survey findings on families underestimating annual college costs.
- **2026-08** — Published survey findings on families sharing responsibility for paying for college.

## Links

- Website: https://www.collegeave.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/college-ave
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/collegeaveloans
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCzSt2leKOw8kAoYSo2sDw
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collegeaveloans/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collegeaveloans/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/college-ave
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25