Student Loan Blog : Federal Family Education Loan Program

Wyoming’s Largest Student Lender to Stop Making Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:02:00 GMT

Nonprofit Wyoming Student Loan Corp., the state’s largest student loan lender, has announced that, as of April 1, 2010, it will no longer be issuing any new parent or student loans.

In a statement from president and CEO Phil Van Horn, the company, also known as WyoLoan, said that it will continue to fund any student loans that are already approved for the current 2009–10 academic year and for which all loan proceeds will disburse by March 31, 2010 (WyoLoan announcement of student loan suspension, Oct. 20, 2009).

“WyoLoan is making this announcement at this time so that any student who has applied or who may apply for a loan and for which funds would be released after March 31, 2010, can make other arrangements through their respective school financial aid offices,” the statement reads. “At the present time, we estimate the number of students who will have to resubmit applications to be less than two dozen.”

The company will also continue servicing its current 25,000 customers who already hold student loans, which total $350 million, The Associated Press reported (“WyoLoan to Stop Making Student Loans,” Oct. 30, 2009).

In the lender’s 30-year history, the company website says, WyoLoan has issued over $1 billion in education loans to more than 75,000 students and parents.

Congress Considers the End of the Road for Student Loan Lenders

The company’s decision comes in response to proposed federal legislation moving through Congress that would put an end to the federal student loan program known as FFELP (Federal Family Education Loan Program), which allows private third-party lenders like WyoLoan to issue government-backed student loans.

Currently, the government pays these private FFELP lenders a subsidy for the federal parent and student loans they originate. A second federal student loan program — the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, begun in 1992 — issues federal student loans directly to borrowers through the U.S. Department of Education, with no third-party involvement from a bank or other FFELP lender.

Under the proposed legislation, known as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221), all federal parent and student loans would become Federal Direct loans, issued directly to borrowers through the government rather than through third-party FFELP lenders — effectively putting most private lenders like WyoLoan out of business.

President Obama has been a vocal backer of the SAFRA bill, maintaining that FFELP subsidies funnel government money to banks and away from students. Supporters claim that the elimination of FFELP subsidies will generate $87 billion in savings to taxpayers over the next decade.

Critics, however, dispute this savings figure and say that the legislation amounts to a government takeover of student loans, stripping students of their right to choose their own lender.

Wyoming’s congressional delegation has come out alongside WyoLoan against the SAFRA bill.

The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on Sept. 17 and now awaits a Senate vote.

Should the measure fail to pass, Van Horn said, WyoLoan will consider lifting the suspension of its student loan program.

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Overhaul of Student Loan System in the Works

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT

A bill to overhaul the student loan industry may reach Congress as early as next week; education-committee chairs are working behind the scenes on a piece of legislation that would eliminate the third-party student loan system called the Federal Family Education Loan Program, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports (“Behind the Scenes, a Student-Loan Overhaul Takes Shape,” June 16, 2009).

Although few details have been released about the proposed legislation, lenders and a large number of Congressmen are hoping the FFEL program won’t end up on the chopping block like President Obama has proposed. Already as many as 13 counterproposals to the elimination of FFELP have begun circulating Congress, including a detailed plan from lending giant Sallie Mae.

It’s not likely, however, that the FFEL program will survive this legislative session, some Congressmen say, considering taxpayers could see as much as $94 billion in savings over the next 10 years if FFELP were eliminated, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

Obama had originally suggested that these savings, which have been readjusted down to $87 billion, could be used to increase Pell Grants award amounts each year at a rate equal to the Consumer Price Index. It now looks like Congress will, instead, propose that the money be infused into the Pell Grant program to allow appropriators to “continue to set the maximum [Pell Grant] award” so as not to end up capping the maximum award amount.

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The Plot Thickens for the Future of Student Lending

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It’s “all hands on deck” for federal student loan lenders. The banks and third-party student loan providers that make up the Federal Family Education Loan Program have made it abundantly clear that they’re not going to roll over and accept the terms of the Obama administration’s proposal to axe their loan program in favor of the Education Department’s Direct Loan Program without a fight, The New York Times reports (“Plan to Change Student Lending Sets Up a Fight,” April 12, 2009)

“We can either meet or beat the budget savings that are in the president’s budget with the exact same system that we have got working now with maybe a few tweaks,” said Albert Lord, chief executive of Sallie Mae, the largest student loan provider participating in the FFEL program.

According to Congressional Budget Office calculations, establishing the Direct Loan Program as the sole provider of federal student loans is projected to save the government $94 billion over the next 10 years, savings that President Obama has said would be funneled directly into the federal Pell Grant Program for low-income students.

Lender-Proposed Alternatives Come Up Short

Lord and other FFELP lenders who oppose the administration’s plan are pushing for a compromise between the Obama plan and the current system that would allow them to continue offering students valuable lending services — quality customer relations, billing, and default prevention and collection — and still achieve Obama’s goal of saving taxpayers money.

FFELP lenders say such dually-beneficial partnerships are possible, which can be evidenced by a compromise that Congress approved last year that allows FFELP lenders to originate student loans using federal money and to resell the loans back to the government. FFELP lenders, which provide more than $56 billion of the nation’s federal student loans, were able to continue making loans to families and the government was able to ensure that families still had access to federal student loans.

But the savings Sallie Mae projects under its compromise plan still only add up to about 82 percent of the president’s savings goal over the next five years.

Supporters of the president’s plan say that this savings shortfall, as well as the fact that FFELP lenders are still relying on the government’s help to retain lending capital, raises the question, “why do we even need private lenders,” asked Representative Timothy Bishop, D–N.Y., a former provost of Southampton College.

Bishop argues that expanding the Direct Loan Program, which provides federal student loan funds directly to more than 1,500 schools is “obvious and long overdue,” being that over the last few decades private lenders have earned huge profits at relatively no risk because the government guarantees repayment up to 97 percent.

Factional In-Fighting Could Favor Lenders

In addition to battling lenders, lawmakers are also fighting an internal battle. Republicans say Obama’s plan is just another means to expand government control over the private sector, while Democrats are divided, with some legislators favoring the plan while others, who represent districts that rely heavily on student loan providers for employment, are siding with private lenders.

Allen Boyd, D–Fla., argues that the president’s proposal could jeopardize thousands of jobs across the country, including 650 in his own district, at a time when unemployment is already rampant. And the states that administer loans through state-based guarantee agencies, considered quasi-government entities that benefit the same as private lenders, are fighting to retain their lending business.

To help keep these quasi-government agencies afloat if they lose their FFELP business, the Obama administration has proposed spending $500 million a year on these agencies’ financial literacy programs and services.

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Federal Student Loan Lenders Fight for Survival

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:52:00 GMT

In what is being viewed as a direct hit to private third-party lenders in the Federal Family Education Loan Program who are fighting to keep the program alive, the U.S. Department of Education’s preliminary data paints the FFEL program as a costly and ineffective system with a 7.3-percent student loan default rate, two whole points higher than the default rate for the Direct Loan Program (“Private Lenders Brace for Fight Over Student-Loan Role,” The Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2009).

Since its launch in the 1960s, FFELP has been the primary source of federal student loans. This year the FFEL program has already lent more than $56 billion in student loans, while the Direct Loan Program has lent just $20 billion. But President Obama has proposed axing the FFEL program, which costs the federal government billions of dollars in subsidies each year, in favor of the government’s Direct Loan Program, through which families borrow directly from the government.

FFELP lenders have said that the Education Department’s untimely release of the student loan default rate data — taken from fiscal year 2007 — was purely political since the government has never released preliminary default rate data and has never broken down the data by the two programs. Industry analysts say the data reflects the differences in the two programs: FFELP lenders typically cater to more students from for-profit schools who tend to default at a higher rate than students in the Direct Loan Program.

Department of Education officials have said they released the data in response to a U.S. Freedom of Information Act request from The Wall Street Journal and inquiries from Congressional leaders.

“It’s unfortunate the rates are being released before there is an analysis of them,” said Brett Lief, president of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, a trade group that represents FFELP lenders and federal loan guarantee agencies. “This is very serious stuff and I’m saddened that it has come out like this.”

No Cut-and-Dry Solution to the FFELP Dilemma

While the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents certain FFELP lenders, has sent Congress a 2,500-signature petition asking legislators to reject the president’s proposal to eliminate the FFEL program, industry observers don’t see the battle over FFELP ending quickly or simply.

The Congressional Budget Office has said eliminating the program would save the government nearly $100 billion over the next 10 years, which President Obama plans to redirect to the Federal Pell Grant program. This potential funding boost for Pell Grants, which are awarded to the nation’s neediest students, could make it harder for legislators who support FFELP to successfully argue to keep the program alive.

However, some legislators who oppose the FFEL program face strong opposition from their home-state guarantee agencies that work with FFELP lenders to service college loans for students in their state. Legislators may also have to battle student loan giant Sallie Mae, which has said that keeping certain elements of FFELP might actually make it possible for the government to draw additional Pell Grant funding from FFELP itself. Sallie Mae has also pointed out that its borrowers, who partake in default prevention programs through state loan-guarantee agencies, are 30 percent less likely to default than direct loan borrowers.

“It’s certainly possible Congress would eliminate the program,” said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president of the American Council of Education, a trade group representing colleges and universities. “But it’s equally possible — and perhaps more so — to wring more savings out of the [FFEL] program and put the savings into Pell.”

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Aid Administrators to Lawmakers: “Don’t Kill Guaranteed Student Loans”

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Just as Congress is about to vote on President Obama’s plan to end the government’s Federal Family Education Loan Program, through which families get their student loans from private third-party lenders, a lender advocacy group is urging lawmakers to consider an alternative to the president’s proposal, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Student-Aid Administrators Urge Lawmakers to Reconsider Killing Guaranteed Loans,” March 19, 2009).

Currently, college students can take out student loans through private lenders using the FFEL program, or directly from the Department of Education through the government’s Direct Loan Program, which Obama hopes to establish as the sole provider of federal student loans.

Instead of doing away with FFELP lenders altogether, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators proposes creating a new federal student loan model that would allow FFELP lenders to continue their participation in the federal student loan program, but under different roles.

FFEL Program Participants Would Serve New Roles

In a memo sent to Congress, NASFAA president Philip R. Day Jr. proposes that student loans be financed through the sale of government subsidized bonds to investors and that the proceeds be used to disburse student loans to colleges, who will in turn apply the funds directly to students’ accounts, similar to how direct lending functions today.

Under the NASFAA’s proposal, private lenders would no longer market college loans to students but could bid on Education Department contracts that would allow them to originate, disburse, and service the loans. Nonprofit agencies and former guarantors would no longer guarantee student loans, but would instead provide default- management services to students, including entrance and exit counseling on their repayment options.

A unique feature of NASFAA’s proposal would allow family members, friends, and private companies to receive a tax credit in exchange for paying off a portion or all of a borrower’s debt. State-based nonprofit lenders would still be allowed to offer loan-forgiveness programs for students entering in-demand professions.

Congress Urged to Consider Alternatives

Earlier last week, the NASFAA asked lawmakers to go slow when considering Obama’s plan. Lawmakers were also urged to engage in “deliberative” discussions regarding the future of student lending, The Chronicle reported, instead of just “ramming through” the government’s proposal to end the guaranteed lending program.

Obama’s plan aims to eliminate guaranteed lending for students through a budget resolution outlining the government’s spending plan.

If that resolution includes instructions to Congress’ education committees to consider Obama’s proposal by way of the budget reconciliation process, Day says it would be the death knell of the FFEL program and “prevent a full vetting of alternative proposals.”

The NASFAA has asked legislators to convene a stakeholder’s meeting to consider other viable options to reform the federal student loan program.

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Despite Down Economy, College Student Aid Still Thriving

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:18:00 GMT

In economic downturns, colleges and universities become flooded with students of all ages looking to better prepare themselves for an increasingly competitive job market. But these schools haven’t been immune to the effects of today’s recession.

Fortunately, for every recent economic downturn in higher education — tuition hikes, state budget cuts, scholarship and grant cutbacks, and a fluctuating student loan market — there’s also been a tangible upside (“Glimmer of Hope for Student Aid in a Bad Economy,” USA Today, March 19, 2009).

Tuition Assistance

Downside: Public colleges have increased tuition by 4 percent per year over the past 10 years, and many schools are set to bump up tuition even more this year as they face unprecedented state budget cuts.

Upside: Federal stimulus money should help some public colleges to better cope with the loss of state funding and to minimize any increases in tuition. The state of Maryland is hoping to go a fourth-straight year without in-state tuition increases. Other colleges are offering one-time deals to students; Kent State University in Ohio is offering laid-off workers a one-time tuition and application waiver at its Trumbull campus, and Manchester College in Georgia is offering to refund one year of tuition for students who aren’t able to secure a job or admission to grad school within six months after graduation.

Institutional Aid

Downside: Trouble in the stock market has caused colleges’ endowments to drop 25 percent in value this year, which has severely hampered schools’ ability to offer scholarships.

Upside: Despite their endowment losses, more than 90 percent of the nation’s private colleges and universities will be increasing financial aid next year by 9.8 percent to make up for 4-percent tuition increases, according to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Government Grants

Downside: Aid for merit scholarships has taken one of the biggest hits this year, primarily due to state budget cuts.

Upside: The federal stimulus package has increased the maximum award for Pell Grants — federal financial aid for low-income students — from $4,731 to $5,350 for the coming academic year and to $5,500 for the 2010–2011 academic year. And, an additional 800,000 students are expected to receive Pell Grant funding this year.

Federal Student Loan Programs

Downside: The $50 billion Federal Family Education Loan Program — the government program that provides federal student loans to more than 10 million students through third-party lenders — has been the larger of the two federal student loan programs. But over the past two years, the FFEL program has lost business to the Direct Loan Program, the government’s other federal student loan program through which the U.S. Department of Education provides federal student loans directly to families, as hundreds of cash-strapped FFELP lenders have been forced to exit the program.

Upside: The FFEL program has still managed to increase its student loan volume this year, and some lenders are returning to the student loan market now that the federal government has bought nearly $25 billion in lenders’ student loan securities, providing them with the capital to make new loans. The Direct Loan Program has picked up the slack, providing an additional $7 billion in lending this year.

Private Student Loans

Downside: The overall supply of capital for private student loans is estimated to have decreased by one-third — a decrease of between $6 billion and $7 billion — due in large part to the fact that lenders have made it harder for families to qualify for private student loans.

Upside: Increased government funding for federal Stafford student loans has helped to reduce students’ reliance on private student loans. And more students are maxing out their federal financial aid before turning to private student loans, which the USA Today suggests has helped students avoid over-borrowing in private student loans.

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More Schools Offering Direct Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:25:00 GMT

The direct student loan program — which President Obama wants to establish as the sole provider of federal student loans by 2010 — is swiftly gaining ground on the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

In the past year, the number of college and universities originating loans through the Direct Loan Program has increased by more than 50 percent, reports USA Today (“Government’s Direct Student Loan Program Gets a Boost,” March 10, 2009). More than 1,600 schools are offering direct loans, up from 548 schools in 2007, according to the Department of Education, while the number of schools offering FFELP loans fell by 3.6 percent during the same time period.

Currently, students are able to get federal student loans from one of two government programs: the Federal Family Education Loan Program, through which students borrow money from private third- party lenders that are subsidized by the government, or the Direct Loan Program, through which families borrow money directly from the Department of Education.

Direct Loan Program: The Future of Federal Student Loans

However, President Obama recently announced a plan that would eliminate the proven 44-year-old FFEL program, which is responsible for making three out of every four federal student loans. The move would transform the Direct Loan Program from a minority player in the student loan industry to the nation’s only originator of federal student loans.

The president’s plan could reduce the government’s student loan costs and save the government $4 billion, Obama administration officials suggest.

Critics of the president’s proposal — which include private student loan lenders — contest the government’s $4 billion savings estimate and fear that the Department of Education won’t be able to handle the surge in loan volume that would occur if the Direct Lending Program became the only originator of federal student loans. Families could be forced to endure poor customer service from an overburdened system, and could encounter difficulties in getting the funds they need for school, critics say.

Besides excellent customer service and a long-running track record of success, private lenders have another advantage over direct lending, says Barry Feierstein, executive vice president of Sallie Mae.

“Private lender and loan guarantors have a system to help borrowers avoid defaulting on their loans,” he says. “That level of outreach doesn't exist in the federal direct loan program.”

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74% of Sallie Mae Loans Could Disappear Under Obama Plan

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:21:00 GMT

Sallie Mae — the largest provider of college student loans in the country — may ultimately see three quarters of its student loan business evaporate under a plan by President Obama that would end government subsidies to third-party lenders and establish the federal government as the sole provider of federal student loans, reports Bloomberg.com (“Sallie Mae May Lose 74% of Loans Under Obama Budget,” Feb. 27, 2009).

Last year, the student loan giant made a total of $24.2 billion in student loans, with $17.9 billion, or 74 percent, backed or subsidized by the federal government.

If Obama’s plan is approved, students would no longer get their federal student loans through private third-party lenders participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program — which currently provides the bulk of federal student loans to college students — and would instead get their federal student loan funds directly from the government through the Direct Loan Program.

The government’s new plan — a plan that financial analyst Matt Snowling of financial services firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co says has “blindsided” the student loan industry — threatens to reduce Sallie Mae to a debt collector and servicer for the government.

However, Sallie Mae isn’t likely to protest Obama’s new student loan strategy, says William Ryan, an analyst at Portales Partners, LLC, a New York-based stock rating service, since the lender is bidding on a contract to become the government’s servicer of student loans. That contract could bring in $250 million over four years according to analysts’ estimates.

While Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that switching to government-funded student loans could save the government as much as $4 billion per year, Snowling says that the move could vastly alter the student loan marketplace, making borrowing much more difficult for students.

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Student Loan Lending Still Going Strong

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:34:00 GMT

Despite being hampered last year by a lack of investors and a lack of access to credit, federal student loan lenders are surviving the economic crisis — making the student loan market one of the few lending industries still able to thrive this year, The Wall Street Journal reports (“Tuition Ammunition: a Happy Lesson on Lending,” Jan. 6, 2008).

Proactive and swift action by the federal government, which guaranteed 18.6 percent more student loans for the 2008-09 academic year than the previous year, has helped the student loan industry avoid the decreases in volume seen by the mortgage and banking industries.

In addition to a move by the Treasury Department to infuse tens of billions of dollars into U.S. banks so lenders could issue new student loans, Congress passed legislation that allowed the federal government to buy up student loan securities from cash-strapped lenders.

The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (HR 5715) was intended to help student loan lenders, allowing the government to buy loans directly from these lenders, and may have contributed to a 9.4-percent climb in loan originations for the 2008–09 academic year by lenders in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). While the legislation has been in place, the government has purchased about $97 million in student loans and invested nearly $10 billion in student loan trusts, figures that are expected to grow before the end of this school year.

“What we’ve seen so far is that programs we have put in place are having the desired effect,” said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Although she’s optimistic that the government’s efforts to boost student lending are working, she said she’s not ready to “declare any victories.”

Credit Markets Hinder Private Student Loan Lenders

While federal student loan lenders seem to be riding out the economic storm, observers say it’s unclear whether the private student loan market, which is suffering greatly from the credit crunch, will experience the same success.

After the market for selling bundled student loan securities dried up, the Federal Reserve initiated a $200 billion program in the hopes of encouraging investors to continue buying these securities. Analysts say, however, that these efforts may not be enough for the private student loan industry to compete with the demand for and the availability of low-cost federal student loans.

Last school year, private student loans accounted for about $17.6 billion, just one-fifth of the $85.9 billion in total student loan lending, according to the College Board. This year, lenders and analysts estimate that private student loan lenders have done 25 percent less business.

Already 39 lenders have stopped making private student loans, and others have tightened their lending criteria, both of which may force financially struggling families to pursue more affordable higher education options, said Tim Ranzetta, president of Student Lending Analytics, an independent research and advisory firm. “The cloud of this financing issue,” Ranzetta said, “will push more [students] to state public universities and community colleges.”

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Auditors Accuse Bank of Illegally Getting Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:20:00 GMT

A recently completed audit of Fifth Third Bank — the 20th largest lender of federal student loans in the country according to college financial aid site FinAid — found that the bank violated federal law by illegally paying three companies for loan applications (“Audit Slams Fifth Third Student Loans,” The Enquirer, Jan. 9, 2009).

According to the law, lenders may not provide inducements in the form of “points, premiums or payments” in exchange for loan volume, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Fifth Third Bank Offered Inducements for Loan Volume, Audit Finds,” Jan. 7, 2009).

The bank had agreements with Law School Financial, MSA Solution Inc., and Pacific Loan Processing Inc. to solicit loan applications that allowed these third-party companies to participate in the federal student loan program through Fifth Third, which acted as a trustee on their behalf. These arrangements allowed the third-party companies to make or purchase federal student loans.

As a result of the audit’s findings, the Department of Education’s Inspector General recommended terminating the bank’s participation in the Federal Family Education Loan Program. The audit also recommended imposing penalties that range from a fine to removing government subsidies on more than $3 billion of improperly obtained loans, which would require more than $300 million in reimbursements.

Fifth Third said that the audit’s findings represented a new, stricter interpretation of the law which authorizes a bank to buy and sell loans, but doesn’t allow lenders to pay another company to market loans or solicit applications. “The payments at issue were for the sale of actual loans, and not for the marketing of loan applications,” the bank said in response to the Inspector General’s audit.

Although the dispute won’t affect current Fifth Third borrowers who already have loans with the company, it could affect the way student loan companies do business and make it much more difficult for students to obtain loans in the future.

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Direct Loan Program Gaining Ground on Bank-Based FFEL Program

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:27:00 GMT

According to a recent survey of college financial aid directors, the federal government’s Direct Loan Program — through which families get federal student loans directly from the Department of Education — could eclipse the government’s now dominant Federal Family Education Loan Program by next school year.

The survey’s findings reveal that the bank–based FFEL program is losing its hold as schools’ loan program of choice, now that 168 FFELP lenders have suspended all or part of their federal student loan programs. Third-party lenders have continued to drop out of the FFEL program as the ongoing credit crisis has choked investor interest in federal student loans, crippling lenders’ ability to sell loans in order to originate enough capital to issue new ones.

Of the 416 colleges and universities surveyed in a Web-based poll by Student Lending Analytics, a company that provides colleges with financial aid advice, 6 percent of schools currently using the bank-based system plan to switch to direct lending for the 2009–10 academic year, and 29 percent are considering a migration to direct lending (“Direct Lending Could Overtake Bank-Based Student Loan Programs Next Year,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 28, 2008).

If only 57 percent of those schools who said they were considering the switch actually made it, The Chronicle suggests, the Direct Loan Program would edge out the FFEL program as the leading supplier of federal student loans.

Currently, 1,458 colleges and universities use the Direct Loan Program, up from 1,010 colleges last school year, while the number of colleges using the FFEL program is down from 4,417 schools to 4,274.

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Student Loan Crunch Affected Some Private Schools, But Crisis Largely Avoided

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:59:00 GMT

The student loan crunch that began this past spring failed to become the widespread crisis that experts predicted, according to the results of a survey by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Still, the NAICU reports, some of the private colleges surveyed have had to scramble to help their students get the loans they need to pay for school (“Student-Loan Crunch Sets Back Some Private Colleges, but Most Manage,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 22, 2008).

More than 500 NAICU member institutions responded to the survey, including 450 private colleges and universities that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the federal student loan program that relies on private, third-party lenders to provide the majority of federally backed loans to students. Of those schools, 85 percent found that their students were dropped by at least one private lender, and 27 percent of the schools said that their students had struggled to find a replacement lender.

Schools reported that their students who weren’t able to get a private student loan often had to take time off from school, drop down to part-time status, work additional hours, or use a credit card to make up the difference in their college expenses.

Three-quarters of the colleges surveyed saw an increase in demand for student aid, but 67 percent reported no negative impact on their enrollment. This is “a good sign,” said David Warren, president of NAICU, even though he speculates that many families may had not yet felt the full impact of the downturn when they were surveyed on Sept. 10., only days prior to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing.

“On the one hand, we avoided anything we’d call a crisis,” Warren said. On the other, we see some clear signals of what may be in store for families right on the edge.”

Only 18 percent of respondents said they had fewer returning students than anticipated, while 19 percent reported having a smaller freshmen class than expected, which came as a surprise to Sarah Flanagan, NAICU’s vice president for government relations and policy. “I thought our sector was going to be OK.”

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Missouri Loan Forgiveness Program to Erase More Than $400,000 in Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:08:00 GMT

As part of a statewide effort to support education in math and science, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority has agreed to forgive nearly $444,000 in student loans for almost 300 engineering and pre-engineering college students (“MOHELA Forgives Over $400,000 in Pre-Engineering Loan Program,” MarketWatch, Oct. 17, 2008).

The lender’s Prospective Engineering Student Loan Forgiveness Award Program will forgive up to $3,500 in federal Stafford student loans for any Missouri college freshman who enrolls in and completes two years of engineering classes in certain degree programs.

Students at 11 Missouri schools are eligible for the loan forgiveness program, which complements the state’s Math, Engineering, Technology, and Sciences Alliance (METS), an initiative created by Gov. Matt Blunt to improve student achievement in METS-based industries.

MOHELA’s loan forgiveness program will be funded, in part, by the revenues generated from tax-exempt bonds, says Raymond Bayer, Jr., MOHELA’s executive director and chief executive officer.

The state student loan agency also made a second announcement on Friday that it had recently closed on a $262.5 million bond issuance with Bank of America Securities (“MOHELA Announces $262.5 Million Bond Issuance,” MarketWatch, Oct. 17, 2008). This bond will give MOHELA the capital it needs to continue issuing federal student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

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Sen. Schumer Calls for Government to Protect Student Loans Amid Passage of $700 Billion Bailout Bill

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:17:00 GMT

Concerned that students who are eligible to go to college won’t be able to pay for their education costs in light of the current credit crisis and a steadily worsening economy, Sen. Charles Schumer is urging the federal government to make sure student loans are still available, according to an Associated Press article (“Schumer Wants Student Loan market to Be Protected” Oct. 6, 2008).

Schumer recently wrote Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, advising them to keep tabs on the student loan market as the government implements a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial sector. The senator fears that the deteriorating credit market might burden college students with higher interest rates on loans or may prohibit borrowers from qualifying for student loans all together.

“The price we’ll pay will be that of a generation,” Schumer said.

Over 100 third-party lenders in the Federal Family Education Loan Program have suspended their participation in the federal student loan program, which is responsible for nearly half of all public and private student loan money, or about $60 billion. Students can access these federal student loan funds either through private lenders in the FFEL program, or through the government itself using the Direct Loan Program.

Schumer recommends that all colleges allow students to get loans through the government’s Direct Loan Program, instead of through a middleman, FFELP lender. The senator says he will be drafting letters to encourage New York college presidents and the American Council on Education to pursue a similar course of action.

Just last month, Congress passed legislation that will enable students who rely on loans to continue their education, regardless of the difficulties in the private credit market. The legislation is effective through the 2010 academic year.

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College Steps in After Edamerica Falls Behind in Dispersing Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:03:00 GMT

A Milwaukee technical college is providing emergency student loans to some of its students after one of the college’s student loan providers announced it would not immediately have funds to issue the loans, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (“MATC Offers Emergency Loans After Edamerica Delays Payments,” Sept. 23, 2008).

To assist students, Milwaukee Area Technical College decided last week that it would tap into its general fund to provide more than $250,000 in emergency student loans to 108 of its students who had taken out their college loans with Edamerica, the eighth-largest student loan provider in the country.

Edamerica was on the suggested lender list at both MATC and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee but was removed from the lists when the schools learned Edamerica had also fallen behind in dispersing loans to students at other schools, including the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and the University of Southern Mississippi.

Some of the technical college’s affected students were also scheduled to receive loan refund checks — the remaining portion of a borrower’s student loan award after tuition costs have been met — ranging from $10 to $4,000.

Students who are eligible to receive the emergency tuition loans and the refund checks — largely used by students to pay for living expenses like housing, food, and transportation — are required to sign a new master promissory note with the school. These students will be expected to repay MATC for the loan if Edamerica does not reimburse the college.

An Edamerica executive who spoke to the Baltimore Sun in August blamed the credit crunch and the economy for the financial problems that have plagued Edamerica and other student loan providers in the federally guaranteed student loan program. According to FinAid.org, a total of 137 of these lenders have exited or suspended their participation in all or part of the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which is made up of private third-party student loan providers.

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