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TMCNet: Affirm Now Provides Hack Reactor Students with Education Financing

[August 04, 2015]

Affirm Now Provides Hack Reactor Students with Education Financing

Affirm, Inc. today announced that San Francisco-based Hack Reactor-considered the Harvard of coding bootcamps-will now offer Affirm financing to students to cover their tuitions.

According to Hack Reactor's data, the school has a 99% job placement rate and median graduate salaries of $110,000 for graduates within 90 days of completing its 12-week development program. The Hack Reactor network of schools graduates over 1,000 software engineers annually, positioning Hack Reactor as a core organization of top-tier schools in the industry.

"We educate more software engineers every year than Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and California Institute of Technology combined," said Anthony Philips, Hack Reactor Co-Founder and CEO. "Affirm financing will make Hack Reactor programs available to even more people every year, who until now may not have qualified for a standard student loan."

Most lenders base loan decisions on a consumer's credit score and income. In contrast, Affirm takes a more sophisticated approach, using data science in credit-scoring algorithms that combine credit history and several other relevant factors to assess an individual's creditworthiness. Affirm offers loan terms of 12, 15 or 18 months with interest rates from 6% to 20% APR for Hack Reactor's progrms.

"We're excited to be working with Hack Reactor," said Brad Selby, Affirm's Vice President of Merchant Services. "Their high-quality, intensive courses are changing the lives of students and their families, and giving students the tools needed to contribute greatly to the companies where they work. The partnership with Hack Reactor fits very well with Affirm's mission of helping people live better lives."

Bootcamps are intensive, accelerated learning programs that teach beginners skills in software and web development, data science, digital marketing, and user experience and interface design. The programs vary in length from six to 28 weeks (most are ten weeks long) and match students with employers.

The average full-time programming bootcamp in the U.S. costs $9,900 with some costing up to $20,000 in tuition, according to Course Report. Bootcamps will graduate over 16,000 students this year, up from 6,740 in 2014, Course Report forecasts.

Computer-related jobs are expected to grow faster than the median for all occupations through 2022, according to government statistics. Computer science graduates' average starting salaries are more than $65,000.

About Affirm

Affirm is a next-generation consumer finance company that began with providing shoppers with instant point-of-sale financing for online purchases. Affirm now also provides education financing for students attending accelerated learning programs focused on coding, design, and business. Started by PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin, Affirm's data-driven approach looks beyond a standard credit score to reach broader consumer and student populations. Affirm's transparent financing solutions empower shoppers and students to pay their expenses over time in monthly installments and at reasonable interest rates. On the e-Commerce side, these features help to improve sales conversions, boost basket sizes, and increase customer happiness. On the education side, Affirm opens up accelerated learning programs to broader populations of students so they can be best prepared to pursue their career goals. To start working with Affirm, go to affirm.com.


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