While student loans are a necessity for many American students, international students face the additional hurdle of a lack of credit access. Washington, D.C.-based MPOWER Financing is trying to solve this problem by offering international students loans based on future earnings potential.

MPOWER, which was founded in 2014, makes credit decisions based on the reputation of a student’s college and earnings potential based on a student’s subject focus and past work history. It also queries applicants on additional financial assets. According to MPOWER, this allows international students with promise to access funding they otherwise wouldn’t receive. “If they have collateral, then they’re often paying mid-to-high teens (in interest),” Sasha Ramani, manager of corporate strategy at MPOWER, said. “When we survey our students, about 90% of them tell us they would have had no alternative to MPOWER.”

Although most of MPOWER’s customers are international students, MPOWER also lends to American students. The application takes about 30 minutes, and the maximum loan amount is $50,000.

Despite the unorthodox nature of the model, Leslie Parrish, senior analyst at Aite Group, said the product is addressing an unmet need. “MPOWER’s loans fill a critical gap in the market,” she said. “While the interest rates are somewhat higher than other student loan products available to borrowers with good credit scores, MPOWER offers international students a way to build a credit history in the U.S.”

The company’s approach is attracting attention from incumbent banks. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs put forward $100 million in debt financing to MPOWER, which Ramani said the company would use to offer more loans and help the company hire more employees. In total, the company has raised $20 million in equity and $225 million in debt financing. MPOWER markets its student loans through social media, search engine optimization and in-country partnerships around the world.

MPOWER works with students from almost 400 schools and more than 200 countries. According to Ramani, the average MPOWER borrower is between 29 and 30 years old and the majority of customers are graduate students. Although the company has lent to more than 2,000 students, Ramani couldn’t say how much money the company has lent in total. In addition to a 5% origination fee, the company charges 11.99% average interest on its loans, which is significantly higher than the average U.S. student loan interest rate of 5.8%. According to the company, rates go down if students set up automatic payments, make six consecutive automated payments and confirm their employment after graduation.