Fair Student Agreements (FSA) introduced with Climb to reduce the total cost of student loans and eliminate the sham of students giving away part of their future monthly salary with most ISAs
Bellevue, WA — December 3, 2020– Aiming to disrupt the trend of students taking on too much risk on unregulated “Income Share Agreements” (ISA) loans, Nucamp (www.nucamp.co) today announced a new business model to fund higher education with Fair Student Agreements. The Fair Student Agreement cuts the cost of funding education with loans and payment plans to as low as $8 per month, making it easier for students to pay for their education while learning. In addition, it allows students to avoid unregulated ISAs, which are often up to 2.5X the total cost of tuition.
Nucamp will offer three types of Fair Student Agreements. One is an interest-free payment plan and offered through Nucamp, and the other two are affordable loans with low monthly payments offered through Climb Credit, a student loan provider that offers innovative financing solutions to students through schools that offer skills-based training.
Nucamp, which has a mission to help those who have been left out of the digital economy to shift careers into software development, offers the industry’s only truly affordable 22-week coding bootcamp for under $2,000. The extremely affordable cost is a huge shift from traditional bootcamps that cost $15,000-$40,000. With Nucamp, whether students live in a big city, a suburb, or a rural area, they can conveniently get the coding skills they need without quitting their job, going into debt, or having to share their future income with Income Share Agreement (ISA) financing. Coding bootcamps largely use ISAs in lieu of traditional student loans and provide aproven pathway into high-paying jobs, but some of those ISAs have caveats that can hurt students, which is why Nucamp now offers a better and regulated alternative to protect students.
Since the pandemic started, Nucamp has seen enrollment of students entering its coding bootcamp increase by 20 percent, many of whom have fewer traditional educational credentials and are suffering the most during the pandemic. Fair Student Agreements help these students afford to attend a Nucamp coding bootcamp for under the cost of a Netflix subscription. Unlike unregulated ISAs, which are increasingly under greater scrutiny for deceiving customers, Fair Student Agreements offer a safe and—over the long term—much more affordable path for students to get a coding education and have access to a better life without risking overpayment.
“The original intent of ISAs is commendable, but in an unregulated environment, ISA providers can sometimes add small print and footnotes, which means the reality isn’t always good for students” said Ludo Fourrage, co-founder and CEO at Nucamp. “They are amplifying the student debt financial crisis created by the blunders of a broken university system and a government that refuses to leverage the power of its loan programs to bring down the cost of education.”
Fourrage continued, “Innovations like our Fair Income Student Agreements can work across all areas of education to prevent further destabilization, and could lead to the cost of education being reduced tenfold. We’ve made it easy for students to pay as they go so that by the time they graduate, the outstanding loan can be paid off in a reasonable timeframe.”
How Nucamp Fair Student Agreements WorkThe Fair Student Agreements complement the company’s already exceptionally low tuition, which is $1,480 for a 17-week Front-End Web and Mobile Development course and $1,880 for a 22-week Full-Stack Web and Mobile Development course. Students simply apply for a standard loan through Climb Credit and once approved, can join a Nucamp coding bootcamp. Because the loan term begins with interest-only payments, monthly payments start as little as $8 per month once the coding bootcamp begins, which can easily be paid while they learn. After graduation, students can repay the remaining principal in 18 or 12 months for less than $90 or $131 respectively. In the end, the maximum total cost of the Fair Student Agreement to the student will be less than $210 for the 17-week bootcamp or less $310 than for a 22-Week bootcamp.
Like ISAs, Climb’s programs are set up to ensure that the school is invested in making the students successful. Through the Fair Student Agreements, a portion of the total tuition is sent to Nucamp, when a student starts class, and the rest is held back. The remaining tuition is only sent to the school once that student starts paying back their loan—ensuring that schools are invested in making their students successful. This type of incentive alignment is one of the factors that make ISAs attractive—and through this structure the benefit is available to students without the drawbacks of ISAs.
“It’s core to our mission to partner with higher education providers who have proven education value that deliver life-changing skills with tangible financial outcomes,” said Angela Galardi Ceresnie, CEO at Climb Credit. “When we learned how committed Nucamp was to affordability—in addition to career results—we were excited to be their financial partner and structure a program that would offer extreme affordability to their students.”
About NucampNucamp’s mission is to help all aspiring career shifters currently left out of the digital economy learn to code. Nucamp offers the industry’s only truly affordable 22-week coding bootcamp for under $2,000 and delivers a high-quality curriculum in small classes of 12 maximum students using a unique hybrid evening and weekend format. Our model relies on carefully selected industry professionals who want to share their passion for coding in their local community. With Nucamp, whether you live in a big city, a suburb or a rural area, you can get the coding skills you need without quitting your job, getting into debt, or having to share your future income. For more information, visit http://www.nucamp.co.