How StepEx works for education providers
StepEx is a regulated tuition-finance lender. Your students apply to StepEx, StepEx assesses them, and if approved the student's fee is settled through a StepEx credit agreement. StepEx collects the repayments and passes your share of each one to you as it is collected. You decide which courses are eligible. StepEx carries the regulatory responsibility for the credit.
Why upfront payment suppresses demand
People don't only drop out at the payment page. Many never apply because they assume they can't afford the fee, and some accept an offer and then quietly withdraw when the invoice arrives. A finance option that is visible early, from a regulated lender, keeps those people in the process.
In the StepEx trial, the share of finance applicants who completed their application rose from 55% to 78%, a 23-percentage-point increase. Results vary by provider, course and cohort.
How a student journey runs
- You confirm eligible courses. You tell StepEx which courses, fees and intakes are eligible, and StepEx builds your provider page on stepex.co with the finance options and the required representative examples.
- Your team signposts. Admissions and marketing place the promotions StepEx has created and approved, and point applicants to StepEx for finance questions. Your staff don't explain terms or recommend borrowing.
- The student applies to StepEx. Identity, affordability and creditworthiness checks, plus any eligibility rules you have set. The full cost is shown before the student signs. Approval is not guaranteed.
- You confirm the place. For some applications StepEx asks you to confirm course and fee details. You have 14 days to do so.
- Settlement takes effect. From the 1st of the month after the student signs (or the 1st of the course-start month if later) the fee is settled through the credit agreement, and you receive your share of each repayment StepEx collects.
- StepEx collects and supports. Monthly repayments, arrears handling, credit reporting, statements, complaints and support if the student's circumstances change are all StepEx's.
What every provider gets
StepEx Core is included for every provider: your provider page and application journey, origination and decisioning, borrower servicing and repayment collection, credit reference agency and regulatory reporting, the provider portal with monthly reporting and payouts, and arrears and enforcement handling.
Managed Promotions is an optional add-on. StepEx creates and approves finance promotions for the places in your journey where applicants consider affordability, a named StepEx finance expert takes applicant calls and callbacks, applicants who stall get proportionate follow-up, and you receive an aggregate dashboard of demand, conversion and drop-off. Read more
Three ways students can repay
StepEx offers three repayment products. You choose which to offer on each course; which suits you depends on your objectives.
Payment plan. The financed amount is split into equal monthly instalments, with or without a charge for credit. The simplest for students and for your finance team to understand and forecast, and typically the first option a provider launches.
Payment plan with a minimum income threshold. Equal monthly instalments that are not due in any month the student earns below a minimum income set in the agreement. Acceptance rates are higher, because repayments are not due in low-income months more applicants can show the repayments are affordable, and students have a built-in safety net in months of low earnings, which many see as a positive. The trade-off is that receipts are harder to forecast and repayment periods can lengthen with graduate outcomes.
Future earnings agreement. The student repays a share of gross income only when earning above a minimum threshold, up to a maximum number of repayments within a maximum period. Typically the highest acceptance rate of the three, and a strong signal to applicants because repayments follow outcomes, so it suits providers confident in their graduates' earnings. It is the most complex to forecast and to explain, for students and for finance teams.
Under every product StepEx makes the lending decision and approval is not guaranteed.
Who does what
| You | StepEx |
|---|---|
Admissions decisions and course delivery | Credit, affordability and identity checks |
Which courses, fees and intakes are eligible, and which repayment products to offer | The regulated credit agreement with each student |
Where StepEx-approved promotions appear in your journey | Creating and approving every promotion |
Confirming course details when asked | Collections, statements, credit reporting and payouts to you |
Course complaints, withdrawals and refunds | Finance complaints, arrears and financial-difficulty support |
Commercial model
StepEx does not pay course fees upfront. You receive your share of each repayment StepEx collects, and StepEx charges you under a standard pricing schedule: a monthly account fee, an origination fee per agreement and a servicing fee on amounts collected. There is no charge for a course-only referral. The schedule is at /standard-business-terms; the figures that apply to you are in your services agreement. How settlement and the economics work for a finance team
Before you decide
StepEx finance suits providers with a defined fee, a confirmable place and a cohort who would enrol if the fee could be spread. It does not change who you admit, and it does not remove every drop-out: some applicants will be declined on affordability or credit grounds, and you should expect that.