Getting the funding to attend college in the U.S is no easy task. That’s why so many Americans and International students are forced to take out large student loans.
In fact, just 44.7 million Americans now carry an incredible $1.56 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt.
Of course, if you have to take out student loans, there is no point in trying to avoid it. Your first option should always be federal loans. Do your FAFSA, and hopefully, you won’t need any extra help.
Unfortunately, many students will need to look to private lenders when the federal government isn’t offering enough support.
The good news is not all private lenders are bad. In fact, some lenders even provide scholarships and actually care about their social impact. If I was getting a private loan right now, these social impact lenders would be my first choice.
MPOWER Financing
MPOWER Financing is one of the only private lenders in the world to offer student loans and scholarships to international students and DACA recipients.
The company is well-known for its no-cosigner, no collateral loans. They believe that students’ future earning prospects should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to provide a loan. This is a very progressive attitude.
Even better, MPOWER provides tens of thousands in scholarships each year to a number of extraordinary students. In particular, they are known for offering a $5,000, a $3,000, and a $2,000 scholarship for women in STEM.
If you want to know that your loan provider isn’t using all your money to pay their executives, then MPOWER is the company for you. Instead of adding zeros to their executives’ paychecks a lot of MPOWER’s profits go back into the community as scholarships, donations and quality loans for students who really need it. With MPOWER you can feel just a little better each time you make your student loan payments.
Ascent
Ascent is another great private student loan lender and the largest on this list. They offer quality, low-interest rate loans that don’t require a cosigner.
Ascent is also known for their 1% cashback, refer a friend and rewards programs that can save you thousands over the duration of your loan.
Perhaps the best part of Ascent’s social impact agenda, however, is the over $50,000 in scholarships they offer annually. Ascent offers a $1,000 scholarship every week. Meaning the chances to win are plenty, spreading the scholarship wealth so to speak.
Ascent isn’t the usually private lender. They clearly give back more to their borrowers than the average private lender and far more than the federal government.
Kiva
Kiva isn’t like the other two private lenders on this list. The company is an international non-profit crowdfunding organization that offers loans for people living in third world countries or in poverty who are don’t have access to normal financial institutions.
Kiva seeks to improve the quality and cost of financial services that the poor can receive. Through Kiva's loans, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment, and families can afford needed emergency care.
The company is currently providing loans to over 3.5 million people using 1.8 million individual lenders. The payback rate is also an impressive 96%.
While Kiva may not be the usual private student loan lender, they are making a great impact around the world and have provided thousands of underserved students with loans to come and study in the U.S, all by using crowdfunding.
When all is said and done, if you’re considering getting a private student loan for any reason, you might want to look into social impact lenders like those above. Making payments on your student loans isn’t fun, but if you know some of the money is going to a good cause that can make things easier. So, don’t wait, get your social impact private student loan today!
