Campus Partners

Update Newsletter
February 2004

Inside Campus Partners
Virginia Coleman
Micrographics Coordinator

AMS Servicing Group in Transition

As announced in the January issue of Update, AMS Servicing Group was acquired by JPT Partners, LLC on January 26. JPT Partners is a private investment group whose principals are Paul Carey and Tom Green, each with over twenty years experience in the higher education financial services industry.

During the last month, we were engaged in a variety of transition activities, including communicating to customers, assigning contracts, establishing new employee benefit programs, and updating budgets and plans. We are now working on defining a new company name and logo, which will be announced soon. This will involve changes in our Web site and e-mail addresses, and we expect a smooth transition for both customers and borrowers.

Stay tuned to the Update for further transition news.

RAAN (Randomly Assigned Account Number)

As published in last month’s Update, we announced the addition of the RAAN (Randomly Assigned Account Number) field to the System III database. The addition of this field allows us to mail bills and correspondence to your borrowers without printing their Social Security Number as part of the Account Number. On-line users can view the RAAN on the BOR (Borrower Display), BSUP (Borrower Supplemental Information), and RMK (Remark) screens. Changing your current procedure of sending information to Campus Partners is not necessary. Your borrowers can use either their old or new account number to access their account information on myamsloan.com or the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system.

Attached is a sample of the Borrower Display Screen that displays the new RAAN. Check out the attachment for instructions that will help you practice accessing your borrowers’ accounts using the RAAN.

ATTACHMENT: Borrower Display Screen Illustration

Contact Your Representatives Now!

Campus Partners staff, representing the membership of COHEAO, called upon members of Congress to request their continued support of the Federal Perkins Program during the Annual COHEAO meeting in Arlington, VA. In addition to a proposal to increase Perkins Loan limits and support reauthorization of annual appropriations, the group asked for expansion of current cancellation benefits including a proposal for cancellation for all military personnel.

The Student Aid Alliance * has spoken out on the President’s fiscal year 2005 budget labelling the plan as totally inadequate. In addition to freezing the maximum Pell Grant at $4,050, the plan also eliminates Perkins Capital Contribution. The proposed budget indicates that the program is “redundant and duplicative, given the broad availability of need-based, subsidized, relatively low interest loans available through the two larger student loan programs (FFELP and Direct Loan Programs).” Please contact the members of Congress in support of the Campus-Based Programs.

* The Student Aid Alliance is a coalition of organizations representing students, colleges and universities and others who believe that all qualified students should be able to go to college regardless of their financial resources. The federal government has taken the lead in ensuring accessible postsecondary education opportunities. Currently, the federal government provides 73 percent of all student aid. Without it, millions of students could not attend college.

Dear Colleague Letter Review

The Department of Education (ED) recently published several Dear Colleague Letters addressing the following pertinent topics.

• Campus-Based Tentative Funding Levels
Dear Colleague Letter CB-04-01 provides tentative funding level worksheets for the Perkins Loan, FWS, and/or FSEOG programs for the award period July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005. For additional information, go to: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0401.html.

• Participation in the Work-Colleges Program
Dear Colleague Letter CB-04-02 provides information necessary to apply for participation in the Work-Colleges Program for the 2004-2005 award year. This letter is available at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0402.html.

• Return of Title IV Aid
Dear Colleague GEN-04-03 provides additional guidance on the application of the Return of Title IV Aid requirements.

The letter addresses:

 

• Title IV credit balances,
• Title IV aid that could have been disbursed,
• verification not completed before withdrawal,
• treatment of a student who fails to receive a passing grade in any class,
• percentage of Title IV aid earned for withdrawal from a credit-hour non-term program,
• date of the institution’s determination that the student withdrew,
• institutions that are required to take attendance, and
• treatment of LEAP funds.

For more information, go to to http://www.ifap.ed.gov./dpcletters/GEN0403.html.

• Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules
The attachments to Dear Colleague Letter P-04-01 contain the 2004-2005 Award Year Federal Pell Grant Program Payment and Disbursement Schedules. The letter describes when an institution must determine a student’s Pell Grant award using the Alternate Schedules and when it can use the Regular Schedules. You can view this letter at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/P0401.html.

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Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published the 2004 update to its poverty guidelines to account for the last calendar year’s increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. These guidelines go into effect February 13, 2004.

The poverty levels listed below must be used to establish the eligibility of a Perkins borrower for economic hardship deferment as described under regulation 674.34(e)(3), which measures the borrower’s income against the poverty line for a family of two.

Continental US and District of Columbia $12,490
Alaska $15,610
Hawaii $14,360

The poverty levels for this year as well as previous years may be viewed on the HHS Web site at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/poverty.shtml.

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Coming Soon - ExpressReports

This spring, we will introduce our new Web-based reports, ExpressReports. ExpressReports provides all your reports in a secure environment, accessible via this Web site. All you need to get started is an ID and password - the same ID and password you use today to access Web reports using DocumentDirect.

When ExpressReports is available, you will be able to access your monthly reports back to July 2003. We will retain a rolling archive of your reports on ExpressReports. Monthly reports will be retained for 24 months; daily and weekly reports will be retained for 6 months.

Following the introduction of ExpressReports, we will cease providing reports in paper format. We expect to produce paper reports through June 30. We will continue to support DocumentDirect, our current Web-based reports tool, through the third quarter.

Additional information about ExpressReports will be featured in upcoming issues of Update. Please contact your School Relations Coordinator with any questions.

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On-line Update

Starting next month, the Update will be an on-line publication only. It will continue to be posted on our Web site in html and PDF formats by the Friday before cutoff. If you prefer to read a paper copy, you can download the PDF file and it will look just like the Update that you receive in the mail each month. You will also be able to read the latest news at least a week earlier than previously.

We will also remind you via e-mail when the latest Update is posted to our Web site and include an active link so you can access the Update immediately. As a pilot program, Billi Wolfe, School Relations Coordinator for the Western states, started notifying a group of customers when each new issue of the Update was posted to the Web. She received many favorable comments from her customers, who said it helped them remember to read the publication each month.

We are excited about the prospect of furnishing news to you in a more personal, yet more efficient and timely manner.

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Workshop Update

As the Update goes to press, space is still available in Student Loans 101, our workshop for less experienced student loan administrators or those new to Campus Partners. If you are interested in registering for the workshop, offered on March 11-12, at our office in Winston-Salem, please contact Debra Pitts at 1-800-458-4492, ext. 2272, or via e-mail at dpitts@campuspartners.com as soon as possible.

If you miss this opportunity, the workshop will be held again on July 8-9, 2004. Other workshops scheduled for the year include Student Loans 202, our training class for more experienced customers. This workshop will be offered on May 13-14, 2004 and October 7-8, 2004.

Workshop Information and registration forms for all workshops are available by clicking here. If you have additional questions, please contact Debra Pitts or your School Relations Coordinator.

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Teleconference Schedule

The first year of our Teleconference Training was a great success. Thanks go to all who participated and provided comments to us. Offering this training gives us the opportunity to reach out to schools who cannot attend a Student Loans 101 or 202 session in Winston-Salem. Each teleconference is geared towards understanding a particular area of student loans and is an opportunity to gain new insights, ask questions of Campus Partners staff, and hear helpful suggestions from other schools.

2004 Teleconference Training Schedule

Regional Meetings

Join us at one of our Regional Meetings this year held at campuses across the country. You’ll have a chance to find out the latest information from your School Relations Coordinator and share insights with other student loan administrators in your area. If you are interested in hosting a meeting on your campus, please contact your School Relations Coordinator. The list appears on the following page.

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Conference Schedule

Representatives from Campus Partners will attend the conferences listed below.

The NACUBO Student Financial Services Conference will be held at the Point Hilton Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix, AZ on March 7-9, 2004. More information is available fromwww.nacubo.org.

The 13th Annual EARMA Conference will be held on March 30-31, 2004 at the National Conference Center at the Ramada Inn in East Windsor, NY. Please visit http://rci.rutgers.edu/~earma for more information.

The Colorado Association of Administrators of Student Loan Accounts Receiveable (CAASLAR) Conference will be held on April 22-23 at the Antlers Adam’s Mark Colorado Springs. Please visit www.caaslar.org for more information.

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Cutoff Dates

Cutoff dates for March and April 2004 are presented below:

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