Academy / Guided Path

Welcome and method

Help the student understand how the program works and how to learn in a self-directed way.

• How the Academy works and how to use the platform
• The method: learn the framework → apply it to your case → execute your plan
• What this program is and isn't (education; you apply, we teach)
• How to define your own learning objectives

Fundamentals: how credit works

Understand what credit is and who the actors in the system are.

• What credit is and why it exists
• The actors: consumers, creditors, credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion)
• Credit report vs. credit score: the difference
• Your rights as a consumer: educational introduction to the FCRA

How to read a credit report

Enable the student to interpret the sections of any credit report on their own.

• The sections of a report and what each one means (personal data, accounts, inquiries, public records, collections)
• Types of accounts: revolving, installment, open
• Key terms explained with universal cases: charge-off, collection, late payment, derogatory mark
• Inquiries: difference between hard and soft, and how they're understood generally

The scoring system: how it's calculated

Understand which factors make up a score and how much each weighs.

• The factors and their weight: payment history (~35%), balances/utilization (~30%), age of history (~15%), credit mix (~10%), new credit (~10%)
• What the utilization ratio is and how it's understood
• FICO vs. VantageScore: why there are different models
• Why your score varies between bureaus

The heaviest factors, in depth

Go deeper into how each factor of the score works.

• Payment history: how it works and why it weighs so much
• Utilization: the math behind it, explained step by step
• Age of accounts and average account age
• Credit mix and new credit
• Common myths vs. how it actually works

Understanding negative information and the dispute process

Understand what negative information is, how long it stays, and how the right to dispute works under the FCRA — at the system level.

• Types of negative information and general timeframes under the FCRA
• Accurate vs. inaccurate information: what the law says about the consumer's right to dispute
• How the dispute process works generally: the steps the law provides for
• Educational model letters: library of generic templates

This module teaches how the system works and provides generic templates you personalize on your own. We never analyze individual files or draft letters for your specific case.

How credit is built

Understand the paths through which a positive credit history is built.

• How positive history is generated, in general
• Building tools that exist, explained as concepts: secured cards, credit-builder loans, authorized user
• Managing utilization: the concept and why it matters
• Habits and systems to sustain progress

Monitoring, maintenance, and protection

Enable the student to monitor their own credit and recognize fraud.

• How to monitor your own credit (free annual reports; monitoring tools generally)
• How to read changes over time
• Common mistakes worth avoiding
• How to recognize 'credit repair' scams (protective education)

Build and execute your own plan

Integrate everything learned into a plan the student builds and executes on their own.

• How to build your own roadmap using the framework
• How to set realistic goals and timelines, defined by you
• How to use templates to track your own progress