Meet Earnest: Affordable Financing for Startup Institute Students
Startup Institute has partnered with Earnest to offer affordable financing options to our incoming students in U.S. cities. This is a huge step forward in our goal to remove blockers for anyone considering our program.
We are living in an innovation economy. ‘Open source’ has taken over as a state of mind and this has rocked how, why and where we place value. Access to information, tools and resources with which to learn is everywhere. In a short few decades, we’ve come to expect this as if it is a fundamental human right. There really is no good reason not to be pushing yourself to learn something new. Yet, when it comes to education, our culture is still convinced there is an established way - long, expensive, and with almost no real world job training.
Startup Institute is alternative to long, expensive and irrelevant education. Startup Institute is an opportunity to learn from the front line of the innovation economy. It’s a path that allows the individual to steer their own career, to be intentional about their professional growth and to make a calculated move.
There’s no doubt about the demand for this type of training and access to the world of startups. Our 500+ alumni in less than 2 years is proof. That’s why as we’ve grown this network and expanded our programs into 5 markets, internally we’ve always insisted that we keep it accessible to everyone.
Our new partnership with Earnest allows us to continue doing that. Earnest offers merit-based loans at very low interest rates to help the country’s financially responsible people achieve their aspirations. Merit-based lending means using data and technology to evaluate not just a person’s history, but also their current situation and future potential.
“Startup Institute is a next-generation school and we’re a next-generation lender,” says Louis Beryl, CEO of Earnest, about the partnership. ”We are excited to offer ‘career development loans’ to this great group of people who are working hard to improve their careers and build their future. In fact, we think graduates of Startup Institute are going to help shape the future for everyone, and we’re excited to begin what we think will be a great, lifetime relationship with them through this offering.”
We want to empower the brightest, most driven and creative individuals to re-calibrate their professional trajectory by entering the Startup Institute global community. By partnering with Earnest, anyone accepted into our U.S. programs now has an affordable financing option for
to enable them to gain the skills they want to follow their dreams and build their startup careers.
We are growing quickly and want you to join us!