Campus Partners

Update Newsletter
August 31, 2004

COHEAO Mid-Year Meeting
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 was the major topic of discussion when almost 100 members gathered in Philadelphia to attend the COHEAO Mid-Year meeting earlier this month. In a troubling move, the House Appropriations Committee has recommended eliminating the Federal Capital Contribution for Perkins Loans in the Fiscal Year 2005 federal budget, which would affect the schools’ 2006-2007 award year if it becomes law. The House will consider this legislation in September, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will probably consider it as well.

Much discussion centered on a letter that COHEAO submitted to Secretary of Education Rod Paige on July 1, 2004 in response to the Appropriations Committee action. The letter made the following points.

• It asked the Department of Education (ED) to reconsider its recommendation to zero out the Perkins Federal Capital Contribution, and

• It contested the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) evaluation of the Perkins Loan Program.

Paige defended the ED’s recommendation to zero out the FCC saying that “funding FCC would be redundant and duplicative” with other federal student aid programs in a letter to COHEAO. In addition, Paige stated in this letter that the Perkins program is “less cost-efficient” than other loan programs and the allocation formula fails to target “the neediest students.”

You can make a difference if you find the House action troublesome! You can contact your Congressional delegation or US Senator to ask them to continue to support the Perkins program and explain what the program means to your college or university. COHEAO has developed a sample letter which can be customized for your use in mailing to your congressman or senator, a list of talking points and a list detailing the Federal Capital Contributions for Perkins Loans for 2004-2005 for each state, which is attached to this newsletter. These discussion points also may be helpful to your organization’s federal or government relations staff.

Additionally, the members of COHEAO discussed the best method for showing your support. Because paper mail is subject to delays, and e-mails are too easy to delete, we strongly suggest that you fax your letters. Then, follow up by mailing a hard copy of your letter to your representative. If you don’t have a Congressional directory, go to the House Web site, which lists House members sorted by state at http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.html.

For contact information for senators, go to http://www.senate.gov and use the pull-down feature to find contact information for the senators from your state.

If you have been interested in showing your support for the Perkins program for some time, please show your support now! Borrowing from Nike, Sharon Cameron, our Audit and Compliance Specialist, says succinctly, “Just do it!”

More Clarification from ED on Paid in Full Promissory Notes

In the June Campus Partners Update, we published a Question and Answer Guide to the Master Promissory Note (MPN), which must be used after November 1, 2004. Several questions on the use of the MPN for multiple award years and notification of paid in full status arose at our Seattle Regional Meeting, and we requested further clarification from ED by posing the following question.

If a school is using the MPN as a 10-year note and the borrower has paid the loan in full, what documents should be returned to the borrower? What if he/she returns to school before the 10 years is up and borrows more money? Is the note still valid?

The answer is, “Yes, the borrower may still borrow under that original MPN.” This answer is consistent with our FAQ, which also pointed out that Section CFR 674.19 (e)(4)(iii) was amended as follows:

“After the loan obligation is satisfied, the institution shall return the original or a true and exact copy of the note marked “paid in full” to the borrower, or otherwise notify the borrower in writing that the loan is paid in full, and retain a copy for the prescribed period.”

Further guidance from ED indicates that the new phrase, “or otherwise notify the borrower in writing that the loan is paid in full” was added so that the school would not have to return the original or true or exact copy of the MPN marked paid in full if they wanted to keep the MPN open for the full ten years. Instead, the school would simply notify the borrower in writing that their loan was paid in full. ED writes:

“Returning the MPN marked paid in full would effectively close the note. If the school returns a MPN marked paid in full, the school would have to start a new MPN should the borrower return to school.”

This guidance also prompted a question as to whether a school could use the MPN as a multi-year note until the borrower paid the loan in full rather than using it as a 10-year note. This would apply to schools that simply did not want to keep track of the 10-year expiration date. ED responded that the practice was accceptable.

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Disaster Relief Available for Victims of Hurricane Charley

Our thoughts and prayers go to the schools and students affected by Hurricane Charley. We will be following the guidance ED issued in response to the disaster in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-04-04, which is available at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0404.html.

This guidance applies to Title IV loan borrowers, students, and their families who were residing in, employed in, or attending an institution located in a Federally-declared disaster area at the time of disaster. Please visit the FEMA Web site at www.fema.gov/disasters if you have questions about the disaster area.

One of the primary focuses in this guidance provides forbearance for up to three months for borrowers in repayment. This forbearance may be granted without written documentation from the student. However, please note that the period of forbearance granted does count towards the three-year maximum limit. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do to assist you and your students.

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2005-2006 Renewal FAFSA Mockup is Now Available

The draft 2005-06 Renewal FAFSA mockup is now available. According to ED, the overall format has not changed from the 2004-05 format and data elements are in the same order as on the 2005-06 FAFSA. For more information, go to
http://ifap.ed.gov/fafsa/0506RenewalFAFSA.html.

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Student Aid Report Draft Available for 2005-2006

Drafts of the 2005-06 Student Aid Report (SAR) (dated July 30) and the SAR Acknowledgment (dated July 9) are now available on-line. The overall format of the 2005-06 SAR, which will be printed on green paper, has not changed from the current 2004-05 SAR. The announcement and the drafts can be found at http://ifap.ed.gov/sarmaterials/0506SARMockUp.html.

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New Products Keep Rolling Out

Since June our company has released several new products: E-Bill, eXpressReports, Cohort Right Track, and iPROMise, our new on-line entrance counseling and MPN product. We are pleased to announce that E-Exit, our Web exit counseling product is now available. With E-Exit, your borrowers will be able to complete their required student loan exit interview on-line through www.mycampusloan.com, and you will be able to monitor the status of a specific borrower or all of your borrowers through System 3i, our Web site for student loan administrators.

For more information on E-Exit, please see “How to Use E-Exit,” which is attached to this issue of the Campus Partners Update. Our School Relations team will also be happy to discuss E-Exit and all of our other exciting new products and services with you.

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DocumentDirect to be Discontinued

eXpressReports, our new report product, is getting rave reviews from our customers. Because of its ease of use, most of our customers have discontinued using DocumentDirect. When myReports is released, we will have another powerful tool for report generation. Because of the availability of these products, we will discontinue access to DocumentDirect on October 15, 2005.

If you already have a DocumentDirect ID and password, you can get started using eXpressReports today. Just click on the eXpressReports icon on our home page, and you are ready to go.

A link to eXpressReports documentation also is available on the eXpressReports log in page. If you have questions about eXpressReports, please contact our Help Desk at 1-800-458-4492 ext. 2111.

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Correction

In mid-July, we sent all customers a CD-ROM containing their monthly reports for the fiscal year ending June 2004. If you need help accessing your reports stored on the CD, please consult our DataStream manual, which is available at www.campuspartners/documentation or call our Help Desk at 1-800-458-4492 ext. 2111. The number for the Help Desk was listed incorrectly in a flyer we mailed to customers last month.

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Another Perfect Audit

Our company has received perfect marks from our third-party audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) for the fifth consecutive year! PwC reported no findings for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004 and issued an“unqualified” opinion, which means that it is issued “without reservation or unconditionally!”

We have participated in these third-party audits long before they were mandated by federal regulations. In fact, we have employed major third-party audit firms for the past 18 years to test the procedures and controls of our operations and our loan servicing system, System III. Our proven record of unqualified opinions resulting from third-party audits substantiate the effectiveness of the internal accounting controls and administrative procedures we employ.

If you have not received your copy of the June 30, 2004 audit report, complete and return the Audit Report Request Form. The report is offered on CD-ROM for $75 and in printed format for $100.

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Audit History

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Student Loans 202

Students Loans 202, our workshop for more experienced student loan administrators, will be offered for the final time this year on October 7-8 in Winston-Salem.

If you are interested in registering for the workshop, please contact Debra Pitts at 1-800-458-4492, ext. 2272 or via e-mail at dpitts@campuspartners.com. Click here for a registration form and information on the workshop.

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Teleconference Schedule

Thinking about participating in one of our teleconferences, but don’t know how to sign up? Just e-mail Debra Pitts at dpitts@campuspartners.com at least three days before the scheduled teleconference to register. She will notify you of the telephone number that you need to call in a return e-mail. It’s free and is well worth your time to learn moreabout different aspects of servicing student loans.

Offering this training gives us the opportunity to reach student loan administrators who cannot attend a Student Loans 101 or 202 session in Winston-Salem. Each teleconference is geared towards understanding a particular topic and is an opportunity to gain new insights, ask questions of Campus Partners staff, and hear helpful suggestions from other schools.

We look forward to continuing this service for all our customers.

2004 Teleconference Training Schedule

Summertime in Seattle

Attendance was great at our Regional Meeting in Seattle last month! Participation from 17 representatives from seven schools made the meeting a huge success! We would like to extend a very special thank you to Melanie Cooper and Donna Bonn at Seattle University for coordinating this event. The agenda items included the latest new products released or soon to be released here at Campus Partners, such as eXpressReports, System 3i, iPROMise, E-Exit, and Cohort Right Track, just to name a few.

Thanks to questions raised on the Master Promissory Note, we have received additional guidance from the Department of Education. (See article on MPN. ) Regional meetings are a great way to gain additional contacts when you need another school’s perspective to “bounce” ideas off of. If you haven’t signed up for the regional meeting listed below, do that today!

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Conference Schedule

Representatives from Campus Partners will attend the conference listed below.

Williams and Fudge, Inc. will present its 18th Annual Student Loan Collection Conference on September 26-29 at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Charlotte, NC. The telephone number for the hotel is 1-800-222-8733. More information about the conference is available at www.wfcorp.com.

PDG will present its 25th National Student Loan/Receivables Collection Conference at East and West coast locations. The East Coast Conference will be held October 3-6 at the Registry Resort and Club in Naples, FL.

The West Coast Conference will be held on November 7-10 at Harvey’s Resort and Casino in Lake Tahoe, NV. More information about both conferences is available at https://www.prodev.com.

The Minnesota Collection Network Mega Conference XII will be held October 25-27, 2004 at the Sheraton Bloomington in Bloomington, MN. The telephone number for the hotel is 952-835-7800. Information about the conference is available at www.mncollectionnetwork.com.

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Cutoff Dates

Cutoff dates for September and October 2004 are presented below:

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