MANSFIELD – Student loans are the bane of many a college graduate’s existence, but one Mansfield native has created a way to make student loans less of a headache.
Scott Keefer, a 2008 Mansfield Senior High graduate, is a co-creator of the app GradLoan, designed to help people manage their student loans in a way that will allow them to see their options and figure out a plan to pay them off.
“Student loans are a major burden for a lot of young adults, so we thought we’d try and develop something that could potentially help a lot of people,” Keefer said.
Keefer created the app through his company Intentional Balance LLC, which he co-created with his mother. As a personal finance company, Keefer’s goal is to help young adults feel more in control of their financial situation, get out of debt and tackle their student loans. That’s when the idea for GradLoan came about.
“I hope that we’ll make people feel more in control, I think people will like that they feel like they have a choice and options,” Keefer said. “I feel very passionately not just about student loan debt but credit and credit card debt.”
According to Keefer, college graduates in the United States owe up to $1.3 trillion in outstanding debt. He worries about the price of going up as well as the availability of student loans driving students further into debt.
“A lot of young adults don’t think about that; five years seems forever away for an 18-year-old, but it can really hamper the rest of your life,” Keefer said. “I think there should be a better way.”
In the meantime, Keefer’s hope is that GradLoan can alleviate some of that student loan stress. The app allows users to input their student loans individually, then rate each loan by payment. It also keeps track of a user’s gross income and disposable income projections, and allows the user to view their total outstanding balance.
Though many of his clients pay the minimum payment per loan each month, Keefer encourages his clients to throw as much money as possible towards their student loans.
“Paying the minimum isn’t always bad, but you should have a reason why you’re doing it and you should have a plan,” he said. “It doesn’t take that long to work on a plan for your financial life, and it could really relieve a lot of stress if you spend a little bit of time each week thinking about it and being mindful of it.”
GradLoan also puts its users into direct contact with Keefer, either personally or over the phone to stay on top of their finances. The app includes a “frequently asked questions” page that is frequently updated, as well as Keefer’s contact information for other questions.
The GradLoan is free and available through both the Android and Apple app stores. So far, the response to the app has been mostly positive. Keefer hopes GradLoan will ultimately make the student loan experience more positive as well.
“Most of our clients feel overwhelmed,” he said. “There’s not a rocket science behind it, we don’t have a secret trick to help you, but we stay connected with you and are in touch any time you want to ask a question.
“We understand that you make mistakes or things happen, but us just being there keeps you more mindful about your debt and planning for your future.”
