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Meet the Winners of the First Earnest Scholarship!

By Authors at Earnest Updated on April 22, 2020

At Earnest, we want to empower people with the financial capital they need to live better lives. This is why we have built best in class student loan refinance and private student loan products. But we wanted to take this a step further and reward students who are working to improve their lives through education.

In 2019 we launched the Earnest Scholarship and accepted applications from students all across the country. We were looking for five stand-out students who would each win $5000 to use towards education expenses for the spring semester. We received thousands of essay submissions answering:

How will your college education help you achieve your goals? Or;
How has your education contributed to who you are today?

It wasn’t easy, but we narrowed down applicants to five winners, the first Earnest scholarship winners!

earnest scholarship winner

Anna is studying Nursing at Purdue University in Indiana.

earnest scholarship winner

Kaylie is studying Biology at Chatham University in Pennsylvania.

earnest scholarship winner

Yohana is studying Mental Health at Boston University in Massachusetts.

earnest scholarship winner

Hannah is studying Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

earnest scholarship winner

Samantha is studying Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville.

We are so proud of each of them, and are glad we could support their education goals!

Want to apply for the Earnest Scholarship? Applications for the Fall Semester are now open.

Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to apply and we look forward to reviewing the submissions.

Need help with your submission? Check out our blog post: How to Write a Compelling Scholarship Essay in 6 Steps

Conquer the cost of your education.

Conquer the cost of your education.

Authors at Earnest

We are a skilled team of design, math, finance, and technology geeks who noticed a lack of trust in the financial system and decided to do something about it. We also like to write articles to help clients with any financial challenge they may face.

Disclaimer: This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice.

Let us do the math

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Disclosures and methodology

The Earnest content platform is created and managed by Earnest. Articles and other content posted by Earnest are provided for general informational purposes only and not intended to provide legal or tax advice. Any links provided to other sites are offered as a matter of convenience and are not intended to imply that Earnest or its writers endorse, sponsor, promote, and/or are affiliated with the owners of or participants in those sites, or endorses any information contained on those sites unless expressly stated otherwise.

Earnest regularly publishes insights drawn from original analysis based on data from loan applications, surveys, and/or publicly available data sources. We always anonymize our data and we never sell our data to third parties. You can learn more here.

Explanation of $30,939 Average Client Savings

Average savings calculation is based on all Earnest clients who refinanced student loans owned and serviced by Navient between 03/06/2017 and 03/31/2018. The savings figure of a particular client is calculated by subtracting the projected lifetime cost of their Earnest refinancing from the projected total cost of their original student loans.

How we calculate the figures:

For the original student loans, the projected lifetime costs are calculated using the weighted average term of the original loans and the weighted average interest rate in effect in the month prior to the refinance event, including borrower benefits (e.g. automatic payment discounts).
For the refinanced loans, projected lifetime costs are calculated using the selected Earnest term and interest rate, also including borrower benefits.
Projected lifetime costs assume a principal balance of $75,000.
Projected monthly savings is derived by using the “projected lifetime savings” divided by the selected Earnest term

In order to calculate our average client savings, we excluded:

Savings from any client that selected an Earnest loan with a longer term than their Navient student loan terms
Loans resulting from a client refinancing the same Earnest loan with Earnest

Average client savings amount is not predictive or indicative of your individual cost savings. For example, your individual savings may differ based on your loan term and rate type selections, if you change your repayment options, or if you pay off your student loans early.

Explanation of Rates "With Autopay"

Rates shown include 0.25% APR reduction when client agrees to make monthly principal and interest payments by automatic electronic payment. Use of autopay is not required to receive an Earnest loan.

Explanation of Precision Pricing™ Savings

Savings calculations are based on refinancing $121,825 in student loans at an existing loan servicer’s interest rate of 7.5% fixed APR with 10 years, 6 months remaining on the loan term. The other lender’s savings and APR (light green line) represent what would happen if those loans were refinanced at the other lender’s best fixed APRs. The Earnest savings and APR (white line) represent refinancing those loans at Earnest’s best fixed APRs.

Savings is computed as the difference between the future scheduled payments on the existing loans and payments on new Earnest and “other lender” loans. The calculation assumes on-time loan payments, no change in interest rates, and no prepayment of loans.

Client Testimonials

Individuals portrayed as Earnest clients on this site are actual clients and were compensated for their participation.