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How Credible & INvestEd Built a Better Loan Experience for Every Indiana Family

A 40-year-old nonprofit partnered with Credible to give students and parents transparent, unbiased private loan comparison, creating a replicable model for financial aid offices nationwide.

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Updated March 27, 2026

CASE STUDY

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Partnership Overview

  • INvestEd is Indiana's free expert resource for college planning and financial aid. 
  • Credible powers their student loan and refinance marketplaces.

40+
Years serving Indiana families
1,000+
Annual outreach events
9+
Lenders on the marketplace
$0
Cost to financial aid offices

The Partner

  • INvestEd (Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans, Inc.), an Indiana nonprofit providing free, expert financial aid guidance to students, parents, and counselors statewide.

The Challenge

  • After exhausting federal aid, families faced a fragmented private loan landscape with no transparent way to compare, and financial aid offices had no neutral tool to recommend.

The Solution

  • The INvestEd Student Loan Marketplace and Refi Loan Marketplace, powered by Credible: personalized, prequalified rates from multiple lenders with no credit impact.

The Impact

  • Seamless loan comparison embedded into a statewide financial literacy ecosystem, integrated across 1,000+ annual events, counselor trainings, and digital resources.

Education First, Lending Last

How INvestEd's philosophy aligned perfectly with Credible's marketplace model.

The Gap Families Were Falling Into

INvestEd's outreach team works directly with families at FAFSA workshops, Financial Aid Nights,
award letter reviews, and college fairs across Indiana. Their message has always been consistent:
maximize grants and scholarships, then use federal loans, and borrow private only as a last resort.


But when families did reach that last step, they were on their own. Financial aid counselors had no
neutral, multi-lender comparison tool to recommend. Families were left to visit individual lender
websites one at a time, with no way to know if they were getting a competitive rate.

Why INvestEd Chose Credible

INvestEd needed a partner that matched their nonprofit mission, one that prioritized transparency
over selling a single product. Credible's marketplace model was the fit: families see real,
personalized rates from multiple lenders ranked by affordability, not by advertising spend. A soft
credit inquiry means exploring options doesn't hurt anyone's credit score.


The technical integration was equally important: Credible's platform works with existing certification
and disbursement processes. Financial aid offices didn't need to change their systems, train on new
software, or alter their counseling workflows.

Woven Into the Fabric of Indiana's Outreach

This isn't a marketplace that lives on a forgotten corner of a website. INvestEd integrates the
Credible-powered experience across their entire statewide operation, from printed materials
distributed at high school college fairs to one-on-one counseling sessions with families struggling to
close a funding gap. The marketplace is the natural endpoint of a journey that begins with financial
literacy.

Simple for Students. Seamless for Schools. 

The Credible-powered marketplace fits into existing workflows, not around them.

1
Student Visits Marketplace
Family accesses the INvestEd Student Loan Marketplace through INvestEd's website, a counselor referral, or an event.
2
Compare Prequalified Rates
Credible runs a soft credit inquiry and displays personalized, prequalified rates from 9+ lenders with no impact to credit score.
3
Choose & Complete
Family selects the best-fit lender and completes the application. Certification and disbursement flow through existing school processes.

Built for Trust, Not for Transactions

The features that make this partnership a model for every financial aid office.


Unbiased Comparison

Credible is a marketplace, not a lender. Families see rates ranked by fit, not by who pays the highest referral fee.

No Credit Impact

Soft credit inquiry means students and parents can explore every option without worrying about their score.Unbiased Comparison

7-Day Concierge Support

Credible's customer care team fields the common questions that otherwise inundate your financial aid office.

Zero Operational Lift

No new systems, no IT project, no vendor onboarding. Certification and funds flow through your existing infrastructure.

Voices from Indiana

Hear from the institutions and partners using the Credible-powered marketplace every day.
 

“Quote pending — Bill Wozniak, Director of Marketing at INvestEd, will share why INvestEd chose Credible and what the partnership has meant for families and counselors across Indiana”

Bill Wozniak

Director of Marketing, INvestEd · Co-Chair, College Goal Sunday

"Quote pending — Indiana University's Financial Aid Office will speak to how a neutral loan comparison tool affects the way they counsel families about private borrowing."

Financial Aid Office

Indiana University

“Quote pending — Purdue University's Financial Aid Office will discuss the value of a transparent marketplace for students when federal aid doesn't fully cover costs.”

Financial Aid Office

Purdue University

“Quote pending — Notre Dame's Financial Aid Office will share how important a lender-agnostic, credit-neutral tool is for families navigating private loan decisions”

Financial Aid Office

University of Notre Dame

Why This Model Works for Every Campus 

The INvestEd partnership demonstrates four principles that apply to any institution.

1
Students Make Better Borrowing Decisions
When families see real rates from multiple lenders side by side, based on their actual credit profile, they choose more affordable options. Less debt, fewer defaults, better outcomes.
2
Transparency Reduces Your Support Burden
A neutral marketplace answers the questions your staff fields every cycle: which lender should I choose, what rate will I get, and will this hurt my credit?
3
It Fits Into Your Existing Workflow
Credible works with your current certification and disbursement processes. No IT project, no vendor onboarding, no disruption to operations.
4
It Reinforces Your Office's Credibility
Recommending an unbiased tool, rather than a single lender, builds trust with families. That trust strengthens your reputation as a student-first resource.

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