My Rich Uncle

My Rich Uncle

MyRichUncle was a service mark of the defunct MRU Holdings, a former NASDAQ listed company that became the fourth-largest provider of private student loans in the U.S. in 2007. The company offered both private and federally guaranteed student loans. MyRichUncle pioneered the use of credit algorithms specific to the circumstances of student lending, developing a proprietary “human capital investment” approach to underwriting student loans in addition to utilizing traditional credit scoring. MyRichUncle actively fought to create a new level of transparency within the student loan industry and sought to position itself as the “conflict-free” alternative lender.

MyRichUncle’s 2007 New York Times advertising campaign, which questioned the practice of financial aid offices having inappropriate “pay-to-play” relationships with student loan companies, is often credited as the catalyst in initiating the New York Attorney General’s investigation of deceptive lending practices in the student loan industry. Between May 2005 and September 2008, MRU Holdings originated over $550 million in student loans and became one of the largest providers of private student loans, behind top lenders such as Sallie Mae, Citibank, and JPMorgan Chase.

On February 9, 2009, as a result of the worsening credit crisis and its reliance on major banks, such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers for equity and debt financing, MRU Holdings, Inc., the parent holding company of MyRichUncle, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and suspended all its operations.