Vittana // Simply Genius

Beyond a limited number of developed countries, student loans simply don't exist. So, unless you have the money, higher education isn't an option.

But what if we leveraged online networks to make loans (costing no more than a concert ticket) to student loan programs, swinging open the door to education for millions worldwide?

It’s a big idea being realized by a venture called Vittana, which allows anyone to make a loan — as little as $25 – directly to students in developing countries. Once these students have a job and personal income, they pay back the loan in full. Sounds simple, but it’s also revolutionary. Microfinance for education seems like a clear solution to a huge problem, but it's still new in practice; no one has created a system of student loans in developing countries before because it’s never been proven that they can be paid back.

The only way to prove it? Do it.

And, with the first students through Vittana already paying their loans back, the proof is now in the proverbially academic pudding.

Why is founder Kushal Chakrabarti doing this? The same reason you should.  "Because it's bigger than anything I've ever done, and it's bigger than anything I'll ever do."