At times when everyone is struggling to survive physically as well as financially, one community that is facing the hardship of managing finance and time is the student community.
Amid prevailing uncertainty over the academic session and evolving mode of education, a Chicago-based startup, A.M. Money, is helping students from lower and middle-income families by simplifying the education loan approval process.
The idea is to cut the stress-load and help them get admission in the institute of their preferences, without much headache of financial technicalities. It is a great act of doing good because these students will be the torchbearer in the coming years.
Simplifying Path to College
The founder of the startup Daniel Rogers and Jeffrey Wright devised a mechanism to make the loan approval process simple. They visualized the challenges students from lower and middle-income families face. Unlike traditional lenders, A.M. Money has adopted an unconventional loan approval process by making credit score and consignee requirement flexible, according to an American Inno report.
Since it is all about education, the company gives more weightage to academic performance. In terms of grades, academic years, and of course, the passion for a particular course, the report noted.
“This is a way to understand not where a person is coming from, but ultimately, where they’re going,” the report quoted Rogers as saying.
Helping the Helpful
Student loan debt, which is currently over $1.5 trillion, is a big challenge. Especially when the economy is heading towards a visible low growth phase. Without divulging the exact fundraising, Rogers told the portal that it’s north of $1 million.
In response to the student loan debt scenario, Rogers said, “The last thing that we want to do is cause a person to go into default.”
To make it simple and practical, the startup provides income-based repayment options. But it depends on which college they are attending. And what kind of job they could get on completion of the course. They are factoring in the job type and accordingly scheduling the duration of the repayment option.
Roger shared his own experience of the difficulties he faced in funding his college education. He told the portal that he joined the U.S. military just after high school and completed his first two years of college while serving in Iraq.
The whole idea of starting A.M. Money is to help students reach college of choice without financial hardship.
Once he left the military after nearly five years of service, Rogers enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C., to complete his bachelor’s degree. In association with banks and some philanthropists, the company processed over $10 million in a loan application. The company aims to serve more and more in the coming years.
