Graduates Of Historically Black Colleges May Be Paying More For Loans: Watchdog Group
Graduates of historically black or predominantly Hispanic colleges might be paying more to borrow money because of where they went to school, according to a report from a financial watchdog.
Financial firms may be discriminating against people based on where they went to college, a watchdog group says. In particular, the group found that a lender named Upstart appears to be charging higher interest rates on student loans to graduates of historically black or predominantly Hispanic colleges.
A lot more people are getting loans these days from a new breed of lenders known as fintechs, or financial technology firms. And some of these lenders factor in where loan applicants went to college.
"It really raised some alarm flags," said Kat Welbeck, the civil rights counsel at the nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center.
So her group decided to run a
