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Should I Refinance My Student Loans?
Two-thirds of all outstanding student loans belong to women.
That’s 929 BILLION dollars. While gender disparities exist in all financial spaces, they are exaggerated in the student loan space. Why does it matter? With disproportionate student loan debt for women, the economic state due to COVID (they filed nearly 59% of unemployment claims), women are headed toward a projected downward spiral.⠀
Nationwide, women with student loan debt were…😬👇⠀
– delayed in buying a home⠀
– delayed in getting married⠀
– delayed in having children⠀
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What’s worse- even back in 2017 when the economy was thriving, 23.5% of female graduates versus 16% of male graduates said they could not afford the basic needs to live- things like food, a roof over their head, medical care, etc. at one point or another during the prior year.⠀
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Fast forward to today, in an economy impacted by COVID-19, women make up almost 59% of filed unemployment claims, even though they are only 50% of the workforce. BIPOC are also disproportionately filing for unemployment.⠀
Source: AAUW analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, B&B:17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study
One question remains: How can we reverse student loan gender disparities?⠀
We must advocate for policymakers to:⠀
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Address equity in student debt.
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Reflect borrower realities.
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Cancel student debt.
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Increase the Pell Grant.
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Simplify repayment approaches.
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Extend emergency aid to all students with the highest need regardless of immigration status.
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Eliminate the pay gap.
There are many things we can advocate for and push for policymakers to address, but thankfully Juno is helping take care of number 5 on the list above.
Introducing: Juno
Long story short: Juno uses group buying power to negotiate better rates for your student loans.
They prioritize students above anything else, working to make the advantage of group buying available for every person as they exit college. Since Juno’s launch back in 2018 by two Harvard students dealing with their own student loans, the company has been able to save borrowers over 26 million dollars. In addition, they have also been able to help students secure over 100 million in financing.
How does it work?
1.You sign up on their website.
It’s completely free to join and takes less than a minute to fill out the form. All they need from you is some contact info, education info, and financial info. then, you are grouped together with other students, grads, or families also seeking a lower rate for their student loans. The good news? No credit checks are required!
2. The Juno team gets to work.
This is when Juno does all the hard stuff for you— they start negotiating deals with lenders while you sit back and wait. After a bit, lenders will eventually submit a bid. Then, Juno goes to look over the proposal and eventually accepts which proposal they think is the best deal for the group based on several different categories.
3. You get notified of the exclusive deal.
Once it’s all confirmed, you’ll get an email discussing the rate they were able to negotiate. You’ll receive an unbiased calculation tool to figure out which loan is best for you. Then, you’ll apply for the loan directly through the lender and Juno makes sure to keep them accountable the whole way through.
Whether you are wanting to get a great graduate or undergraduate deal on a loan or refinance student loans you already have, Juno is ready to help. Variable rates for refinancing start at 1.89% APR and you can receive up to $1,000 cashback for members.
They also help people find deals for:
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health insurance
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auto refinance
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international student refinance
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ACT/SAT prep
The team at Juno was created by students, for students and that is elevated through their three core values: community, transparency, and education. Not only is their startup story inspiring (you can read more on that here), but Juno is dedicated to making sure that higher education is the least burdensome it can possibly be. In addition to negotiating great deals on student loans, they also provide a list of amazing resources on their website including a graduate student loan calculator, recommendations, scholarships, law guides, financial literacy info, and more. I love a good company actively working for a cause, and I know if you’re reading this, you probably do too.
Ready to give it a try?
I am an affiliate of Juno but as always all my opinions are my own. I will never partner with a brand/organization that I do not personally use or believe in.
