Both started full-time jobs to pay for school, Garg at a hedge fund and Khan with personal e-commerce consulting. This training provided the pair with more practical lessons than their classroom studies. Garg said his experience allowed him to test a variety of different notions he had about markets and theories while he helped invest in developing countries. "Intellectually, I could take an idea and that particular market could tell me if I was right or wrong all at once," he said. "It was a really interesting time for me because I was working with all of my interests, global politics, literature, and economics, at the same time."
Garg and Khan were ready to go out on their own to help kids in their former financial situation. "There are a lot of instances of kids getting into a great private school, but they have to attend a state school instead in order to avoid saddling their parents with extra debt," Khan said. "Essentially they were being asked to compromise the great social equalizer, their education. So we figured out a way to share risk with students, because we believe that giving them access to the education they want can fundamentally change the world."
Rather than base their loan decisions solely on a student's or parents' credit history, My Rich Uncle says they consider each individual case based on background, academic performance, internship history and other personal characteristics, such as the "poor, smart and hungry factor," Garg says.
"When we graduated, this wasn't possible. Loans were based totally on credit history, rather than merit," said Khan. "But since 99 we have proved people wrong and shown them that our approach is not just possible, but successful."
They say their recently instituted Grad Plus Loan program offers continuing and graduate students the ability to borrow more than the Stafford Loan programs maximum. The duo says the red tape needs to be broken to further the education of their customers.
"Who stands behind kids like us?", said Garg. "It's like our name suggests. If you can't go to the government, and your parents don't have the funds, then you want to ask someone you know and trust to help you out."
 | ||||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
| ||
|
|
|
||||
| ||||||
