Smarter Student Loans ? Dealbreaker: Wall Street Insider ...

A Social Finance Revolution

The SoFi founders met at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) at a time of historically low interest rates. But when they looked at the options for funding their education, the choices weren?t great. With student loan interest rates so high and U.S. student debt exceeding $1 trillion, it was clear that there had to be a better way.

The SoFi founders realized that built into each university community was an untapped resource: alumni. They knew that if alumni, rather than the banks or the government, put up the money for student loans, SoFi could offer students a much better deal. So that?s exactly what they did. SoFi offers students and recent graduates a way to save real money on interest rates and orgination fees without giving up many of the benefits of the federal loan program.

But alumni do more than invest money in the SoFi model. They also make a social investment in students, engaging with borrowers in a social network to boost the odds that student borrowers succeed and alumni investors make see a return on their investment.

This is how finance used to work. Members of a community helping other members so that everyone is better off. SoFi is just getting back to those basics of community finance.

SoFi is where social meets finance, and the end result is a better student loan at a time when better options are sorely needed.

Here are the details:

Current MBA and undergraduate students can get SoFi loans at a 6.24% fixed rate (6.24% APR)* if payments are made while in school using auto payments. A 6.49% fixed rate (6.38% APR)** product is also offered for students who defer making payments while in school. An additional discount drops the rate to 5.99% (5.99% APR)*** for making auto payments after graduation. These loans do not require a cosigner or have an origination fee.

Recent MBA grads can also refinance their federal and private loans at a rate of 5.99% (5.99% APR)**** with no origination fee or prepayment penalty.

All SoFi loans also offer access to SoFi?s alumni investor community, and borrowers enjoy many of the benefits of federal loans, including income-based repayment and economic hardship forbearance options .*****

Take time to study your options. This Federal Loan Comparison Chart might help you understand the differences between the loan features*****.

To learn more about SoFi, visit www.sofi.com or call us at 1.866.357.6342. We have real people here in our San Francisco office to help answer your questions.

Please Note:

* 6.24% APR Assumes a $10,000 loan, borrower begins making monthly interest-only or interest and principal payments immediately with auto ach, 15 year repayment term and no origination fee.

** 6.38% APR Assumes a $10,000 loan with a 22 month in-school deferment, 6 month grace period, monthly payments, no origination fee, capitalization of accrued interest upon entering repayment and a 15 year repayment term. Does not include any discounts.

*** After a borrower graduates and pays using automatic ACH payments, a .25% discount is applied to borrowers under the 6.24% rate loan and a .5% discount is applied to borrowers under the 6.49% loan. In the event a borrower stops making automatic ACH payments, this discount will be removed.

**** This product requires the borrower to sign up for automatic ACH payments. A 6.24% (6.24% APR) fixed rate loan consolidation product is also offered that does not require sign up for automatic payments. Both APR assumptions are based on a $10,000 loan, 15 year repayment term, and beginning monthly repayment 30 days after loan origination. Your APR may increase or decrease based on your own circumstances. You will receive a customized APR estimate during the application process.

***** Direct Loans and other private loans may offer benefits not offered by SoFi. Please carefully consider all your options. For information about federal loan benefits, visit http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/federalaidfirst/index.html. Community-based loan forgiveness is not guaranteed.

Terms and Conditions Apply. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and meet underwriting requirements. This information is current as of July 26, 2012 and is subject to change. SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Lending Corp (dba SoFi) California Finance Lender #6054612. 220 Halleck Street Suite 200D, San Francisco, CA 94129

Source: http://dealbreaker.com/2012/08/smarter-student-loans/

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