SoFi Blog

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing student loans (both private and federal) is SoFi.

I got a request to write something about the recent fall in gold prices.  Gold had rallied the last decade through a combination of “it’s the end of the world” buyers and concerns about inflation.  These concerns are now getting replaced with expectations for high real rates driven by growth and a Fed exit, and from expectations of low inflation.  Consequently, gold has suffered.  Oil – another hedge fund commodity favorite – has held on to its gains, showing support for some industrial commodities (and supporting a growth thesis – sort of).

There is a lot of debate going on these days about overhauling student loans.  Here’s a high-level summary of our view:

Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) solicited input on how to “stop the student debt domino effect.” Tens of thousands of individuals and organizations responded with their comments and suggestions along with our very own CEO Mike Cagney.

Earlier this year, we launched the SoFi Entrepreneur Program to connect borrowers who have entrepreneurial aspirations with SoFi investors interested in furthering their potential. Current SoFi borrowers interested in refining a start up idea and developing skills critical to getting early-stage funding were invited to apply for the 4 month-long program. The pilot class was selected from a competitive pool of applicants and has since participated in a combination of hands-on workshops to improve their pitch decks, meetings with SoFi Executives who are influencers in the startup community and conversations with sophisticated venture capital and angel investors.

Here, SoFi Entrepreneur Benny Joseph shares his experience and explains how the program is setting him up for startup success: