merit-based-lending
(2)
Funding U
Funding U (legally Funding University) is an Atlanta-based fintech lender that gives high-achieving undergraduates private student loans without a cosigner and without relying on FICO scores. Instead of judging students by their family's credit or wealth, the company underwrites loans using academic performance, progress toward a degree, likelihood of graduating, and projected earnings - factors a student actually controls. Founded in 2015 by Jeannie Tarkenton, Funding U aims to serve low- and moderate-income students that traditional private lenders won't touch, positioning its product as a responsible 'last-gap' option that fills the space left after grants, federal aid, and scholarships run out.
Jeannie Tarkenton
Jeannie Tarkenton is the founder and CEO of Funding U (Funding University), an Atlanta-based fintech lender that makes no-cosigner student loans to high-achieving, low-income undergraduates based on grades, grit and trajectory rather than a parent's credit score. A Princeton English major who spent a decade in Atlanta education nonprofits, she built an AI underwriting model that reads transcripts and internships instead of FICO and balance sheets. Since 2018 the company has deployed well over $125 million to thousands of mostly first-generation students, and counts Goldman Sachs and her former college roommate MacKenzie Scott among its backers.