The Challenge
Lack of Higher Education Perpetuates Poverty
A college degree is essential for economic mobility of poor families. To-date 76% of Philippine employers are still not open to hiring non-college degree holders (Jobstreet.com, 2018). Many underprivileged youths who cannot afford to start or finish their college degree, drift into informal work or simply remain unemployed.
The Philippines’ College Financing Problem
On average, a Filipino student needs at least Php 60,000 annually for school tuition and stipend. For low-income and poor families who have an annual household income between Php 0 to Php 190,000, college is a difficult feat (Philippine Statistics Authority). Additionally, since the lower class are unbanked and lack credit history, 95.6% of borrowers in the Philippines are not able to get student loans from banks (BSP, 2015).
Two Women Engineers. One Dream.
InvestEd is an award-winning social enterprise led by two women-engineers, who dream of changing the game for underprivileged students. Back in college, they witnessed many of their peers drop out due to financial difficulties. They thought, how come in developing countries such as the Philippines, inclusive and sustainable student loan programs for the poor do not exist? It was with that curious thought that they started venturing into a business that would help underprivileged college students in a systemic scale. That is how InvestEd was born.
Our 2023 Vision: Slash the Philippines’ College Dropout Rate by Half
InvestEd empowers underprivileged and unbanked youth finish their college degree worry-free, through an investment platform for student loans. Our 2023 vision is to be the country’s leader in education financing by slashing the country’s college dropout rate by half.