Fintech startup Fynn wants to make attending trade school more affordable—and accessible.
Fintech startup Fynn wants to help make trade schools cool again.
On its website, the company describes its mission as “[bringing] safe, fair, and affordable loans to students of all backgrounds at qualifying trade schools.” The truth is, many people from marginalized communities—including disabled people—simply don’t have the socioeconomic status to pay their way through a traditional four-year university. College is an expensive proposition: according to a recent report, there’s $1.75 trillion in outstanding student debt in the United States, which includes federal and private loans. The average borrower owes nearly $29,000 in payments. That’s a mountain of debt for anyone to take on that may be untenable and downright impossible to pay down. Especially for a perpetually and systemically poor disabled person, a trade school may well be an opportunity to reach gainful employment than have no employment at all. More pointedly, attending a trade school may allow a disabled person to showcase skills they may struggle to use in a conventional, oftentimes frenetic, academic setting.
Trade schools have lower costs than traditional schools—yet still are expensive.
Eric Menees is co-founder and chief executive at Fynn. A former researcher, his affinity for trade schools runs deep. He was raised by a mother who worked in the trade space, and some of his closest friends from his Houston high school pursued trade careers upon graduation. Menees started Fynn because he felt strongly that a person’s financial circumstance shouldn’t dictate their educational pursuits. In a nutshell, Fynn is making school more accessible, literally so, to everyone.
“I know firsthand how valuable these careers are to individuals and to the country,” Menees said early last month in an interview via email. “I also know how difficult it is for millions of Americans to afford these training programs.”
At a technical level, Fynn works by leveraging—what else?—artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. The company feeds job market and school outcome data, both historical and projected, into a fully-automated underwriting engine that takes a more holistic view of the person applying for the loan. In addition, Fynn has developed proprietary software designed to support schools and students throughout the tuition process. Students can see whether they qualify for a loan in five minutes, while schools have access to custom dashboards that enable school representatives to, for example, certify attendance and more.
When asked why Fynn does this, Menees said it’s essentially about the economy.
“The American workforce is in crisis, and we are facing the greatest labor shortage since World War II,” he said. “Today, across every major industrial and allied health sector, America is short hundreds of thousands of essential workers.”
Menees added “employer-paid training for skilled workers has steadily dropped since the 1990s, from almost 20% in 1996 to 11% in 2008.” As more Baby Boomer workers retire, the influx of fresh blood isn’t happening fast enough, he said.
Menees said given its current course, the effects of the American labor shortage will continue “its sobering and snowballing impact—not only on our economy, but also on our communities, our culture, and our daily lives.” Moreover, he said these myriad problems range from the inconvenient to the existential. A national shortage of diesel mechanics and truck drivers, Menees said, leads to trash buildup on sidewalks. Likewise, Menees noted a shortage on nurses and medical technicians brought “America’s COVID-taxed hospitals to a grinding halt,” he said.
According to Menees, two-thirds of workers in this country don’t have a college degree—a number that includes this reporter. He cited analysis from Georgetown University which found electrical and power transmission installers, for instance, could see entry-level earnings of $80,000 per year, which Menees said “outpaces some Ivy League graduates.” Such a statistic pushes back on the entrenched societal narrative that four-year colleges are the best avenue for higher education; trade school graduates, Menees said, have ”massive income potential” as a plumber, electrical linemen, construction worker, or HVAC technician. A problem is most institutions lack access to federal aid, leaving countless people in the lurch.
“Now, more than ever, we are seeing increased interest as students try to pursue skilled labor careers each year, only to be held back by their financial circumstances,” Menees said. “This is where Fynn comes in.”
Feedback-wise, the service Fynn provides has been a hit with both students and school partners. Menees told me students are seeing a 172% average salary increase, while partners have reported being pleased by “how much deeper in the credit spectrum we go than traditional lenders and how much that matters to them in filling their classes and to the students in pursuing their careers,” he said.
As one anecdote on the appeal of vocational schools, I aspired to become a pastry chef many moons ago. Ever since childhood, I’ve always considered myself a gastronome and thus enjoyed being in the kitchen. Although I was accepted, culinary school didn’t work out, ironically, due to cost. Had something like Fynn existed twenty years ago, my life may well have been spent making crepes Suzette and profiteroles in some three-star restaurant instead of teaching special education preschool and then pivoting to journalism. The point of this anecdote is simply to share that the reason for trying culinary school was more than a deep interest in food—it was pragmatic too. As a disabled person, there was no way I could even partially afford a traditional collegiate career, so I figured trade school was a good compromise. However sound the idea was on principle, the reality was (and remains) that culinary school is really expensive for many, many people.
From an accessibility point of view, disability-wise, it’s worth noting Fynn’s digital-native mechanics can be more accessible for many over talking to a real person about a loan. Beyond sheer uncomfortableness around talking about financial matters with other people, it’s also true doing it all in front of a computer can be more accessible in terms of reducing anxiety and cognitive load. Not to mention, from a language perspective, using Fynn virtually means not having to worry about a speech delay like a stutter when talking to someone on the phone or in person. While these are seemingly fine details relative to Fynn’s overall mission, the small details matter the most when shaping a positive user experience for a disabled person. In other words, the little things make a big difference.
As to the future, Menees and team hopes to heighten awareness of trade schools.
“We want to bring an unparalleled level of execution and passion into this space for borrowers, schools, and employers who are overlooked and left to pick at the scraps from technological revolutions happening in other industries. There is a myriad of products to build for employers to connect directly with students, as well as a huge opportunity to create a better financial services experience for millions of students as they train and enter the middle class,” he said. “Ultimately, I envision a lifetime partnership with our students and the rest of the ecosystem where we can serve them far beyond the initial training. Bringing more people into the trades not only solves the skilled labor shortage that is slowly eroding our country, but it also contributes to rebuilding the American middle class.”
