Campus Partners

Update Newsletter
November 30, 2003

Inside Campus Partner
Jeraline Gunnings
Team Lead, Default Prevention

AMS Sale Update

The sale of Academic Management Services to Sallie Mae has been finalized. As stated in our letter of November 14, because of a potential conflict with federal regulations that do not allow schools to use a billing servicer and a collection agency owned by the same company, Sallie Mae plans to divest AMS Servicing Group. Until that transaction is completed, the Department of Education has agreed not to take action against schools that may be in conflict with the regulations.

Attachment: Letter to AMS Servicing Group Customers

On the following page is the complete text of the statement which Sallie Mae received from the Department of Education verifying the Department’s position . The letter was dated November, 21, 2003 and was signed by Kristie Hansen, General Manager, Financial Partner Services, and Kay Jacks, General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services. The letter states:

“I am writing this letter to confirm that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office (of) Federal Student Aid (FSA) will allow Sallie Mae 90 days, from the date of this letter, to divest Salle Mae’s Perkins loan servicing business. During this 90-day period, FSA will not take action against Sallie Mae for not complying with regulations under 34 CFR 674.48 (2003). In addition, FSA will not take action against any school customers of AMS’s Perkins loan servicing division, which also contracts with General Revenue Corporation, an affiliate of Sallie Mae, Inc.”

A PDF version of this letter is available on our Web site by clicking here.

Privacy Information

During the last year, increased emphasis has been placed on preserving the privacy of sensitive information. If you have visited a doctor’s office or pharmacy recently, you probably have been required to sign a Notice of Privacy Practices and have seen new privacy divider screens. You may have encountered problems making medical appointments for members of your own family because of increased efforts to protect privacy.

Likewise, because of recent legislation passed by the state of California and our dedication to ensure that your borrowers’ loan information is protected on any correspondence that we mail to them, we will be adding a new field to our System III database called “Billing Number.” This Billing Number will not be the borrower’s Social Security Number, but instead will be a number randomly assigned by the system. The 9-digit identifying number will begin with the number “8” and will be printed on all written communication that we send out to a borrower. This includes, but is not limited to bills, past due notices, and QuikLetters. In the “Account Number” field (for example, on a borrower’s bill), we will print the customer’s System Number/Billing Number/Consolidation Number. Because many of our customers use social security numbers in the Loan Number field, we will no longer print Loan Numbers on any written communication sent to a borrower. Program Number and Sequence Number will continue to print as identifiers.

If you use System III, you will be able to access a borrower’s loan using his or her Billing Number, Account Number, or Social Security Number. Our goal is to implement this change during the first quarter of 2004. We will continue to keep you posted with more information in future issues of the Campus Partners Update.

Clarification from ED on the Master Promissory Note (MPN)

During the PDG Conference in Seattle in November, Campus Partners representatives received clarification from Gail McLarnon, Program Specialist with the Department of Education (ED), on what happens if no disbursements are made within 12 months of a borrower’s signature date.

For example: A borrower signs the MPN and a disbursement is made within 12 months of the signature date. Then 12 or more additional months go by without another disbursement. Is the note still valid or does the borrower need to sign a new MPN?

The answer is no. The borrower does not need to sign another MPN because the MPN is valid for 10 years after the signature date. The only exception would be if the school receives written notification from the borrower requesting that no further loans be made under the MPN.

Campus-based Programs 2004-2005 FISAP Edit/Verification Process

In Dear Colleague Letter CB-03-16, ED reminds institutions that 2004-2005 edit corrections and Perkins cash on hand as of October 31, 2003 must be submitted to ED by December 15, 2003. CB-03-16 includes a Question and Answer section on this process which can be found by viewing the following link: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/cb0316.html.

FAFSA on the Web Worksheets in English and Spanish

The 2004-05 FAFSA on the Web Pre-Application Worksheet in English and Spanish is now available for schools to print and distribute to students. Because the order of the questions on FAFSA on the Web is somewhat different than on the paper FAFSA, ED stresses the importance of telling students who plan to apply on-line to use the Pre-Application Worksheet instead of a paper FAFSA. You can read more regarding this announcement at:
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/1029FOTWebWksheetAppli0405.html

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FAFSA on the Web Demo Site Temporarily Unavailable

The FAFSA on the Web Demo site at http://fafsademo.test.ed.gov/, currently unavailable while ED transitions to the 2004-2005 applications, is scheduled to be available again on December 7, 2003. At that time, aid administrators can access the 2004-2005 functions of FAFSA on the Web that will be available to students and parents beginning January 1, 2004, as well as all functions that will be available to aid administrators in FAA Access to CPS On-line.

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EIP Services Expanded

Are you taking advantage of Campus Partners’s Early Intervention Program (EIP)? If not, you are missing the opportunity to reduce borrower delinquencies before they get out of control!

With EIP, specially trained loan counselors are available to work with your borrowers in a caring and professional manner. In addition to the standard due diligence services provided by Campus Partners, EIP provides a series of specialized letters and phone contacts to borrowers who are 15 to 105 days past due on their student loan payments.

And, we have recently expanded the EIP services through our partnership with Money Management, International (MMI), a leader in the non-profit credit counseling industry. They provide a full range of counseling services for borrowers who are overextended, often due to credit card debt. If we determine that an EIP borrower is interested in credit counseling, we provide them the opportunity to speak directly with a certified MMI credit counselor. This is just one more way we help your borrowers.

If you are interested in learning more about the EIP service and how to get started, please contact your School Relations Coordinator. Also, check out the latest edition of “Inside AMS Servicing,” featuring Jeraline Gunnings, who is one of the main reasons for the success of EIP.

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Workshop Schedule for 2004

If you are currently reviewing training needs for 2004, please consider registering for one of our workshops. We will be offering Student Loans 101, our training class for less experienced student loan administrators or those new to Campus Partners, on March 11-12, 2004 and again on July 8-9, 2004. If you and your staff have more experience, then Student Loans 202 is for you. This workshop will be offered on May 13-14, 2004 and October 7-8, 2004. Registration information will be posted to our Web site soon. If you have more immediate questions, please contact Debra Pitts at 1-800-458-4492, ext. 2272, or via e-mail at dpitts@campuspartners.com.

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Teleconference Schedule

The last two teleconferences for 2003 are listed below. These free training opportunities have been very popular with our customers, and more are planned for next year. We will publish the 2004 schedule in the Update and on our Web site as soon as it is available. To register for the December teleconferences, please e-mail Debra Pitts, School Relations Assistant, at dpitts@campuspartners.com at least 3 days before the conference call.

Regional Meetings

Our Georgia Regional Meeting will be held on January 26, 2004 at Spelman College in Atlanta. As these meetings continue in 2004, our School Relations staff will bring you the latest news about myamsloan.com, which allows your borrowers to access their accounts on-line, and System 3i, which allows you to view your borrowers’ accounts on-line, in addition to other pertinent information. To learn more, please contact your School Relations Coordinator or Debra Pitts at (800) 458-4492 ext. 2272 or e-mail her at dpitts@campuspartners.com.

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Conference Schedule

Representatives from Campus Partners will attend the conferences listed below.

The 2004 COHEAO Annual Meeting will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, VA on January 25-28, 2004. More information is available at www.coheao.org.

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Cutoff Dates

Cutoff dates for December 2003 and January 2004 are presented below:

		This month's Update is available in PDF format.