Perkins Funding Crisis

As this issue of the Update newsletter nears publication, it appears that the Perkins loan program has enough support in the House and Senate to remain a viable program. According to a report published in the Higher Education Washington’s newsline dated July 19, 2005, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill, which preserves the Perkins loan program. However, while the bill includes $66 million for Perkins loan cancellation benefits, it does not provide a Federal Capital Contribution for next year. This action mirrors the House Appropriations bill which was approved last month.

Although the budget is not finalized yet, the future of the Perkins program looks positive. We will continue to keep you posted on the progress of the budget and reauthorization. We will probably not be able to breathe a sigh of relief until the middle of September. Continue to look to the Update for the latest news on issues related to Perkins.

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Changes to Loans to Review for Cohort Default Rate Report

Beginning with your July 31, 2005 Loans to Review for Cohort Default Rate report, loans that are paid in full before the grace expiration date will be removed from your cohort group of borrowers. Guidance received from the Department of Education indicates that if the borrower paid the loan in full during his/her grace period, then the loan never entered repayment. Your cohort group is comprised of borrowers who entered repayment for an award year and defaulted before the end of the following award year. If the borrower paid the loan in full or died during his/her grace period, then the loan did not enter repayment and therefore cannot be included in your cohort group of borrowers.

If the borrower is paying the loan in full due to consolidation, you may request permission from the borrower to waive his/her grace period and put the loan into immediate repayment. This process will allow these borrowers to be included in your cohort group of borrowers. The request from the borrower, however, must be in writing. In order to put the loan into immediate repayment, the separation date will have to be changed. If you need assistance with this process, contact your Customer Service Representative.

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Line 8 & 9 Addendum FISCOP Report Available via eXpressReports

As we published in our June 30, 2005 Update, Campus Partners has been in the process of providing you with a separate report that included borrowers whose loans were paid in full under Part III, Section B., Items 8 and 9. Item 8 represents “Total Principal Repaid by Borrowers from all Sources During the Award year for Loans in Default for More than 2 Years and Up to 5 years.” Item 9 represents “Total Principal Repaid by Borrowers from all Sources During the Award year for Loans in Default for More than 5 years.”

This addendum report is now available on eXpressReports. Once you logon to eXpressReports, you will see the following heading under “Report Type,” FISCOP Line 8 and 9 Addendum. This report contains the number of borrowers whose loans were paid in full in Items 8 and 9. If you have questions or need assistance in viewing this report, please contact your Customer Service Representative.

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FISAP Available Now

The Department of Education has published Dear Colleague Letter CB-05-09 which contains the final OMB-approved Fiscal Operations Report for 2004-2005 and the Application to Participate for 2006-2007 (FISAP) for the Perkins Loan, FSEOG, and FWS programs. It will be available on the eCampus-Based (eCB) Web site in late July 2005. While there are no substantive changes or new data fields, there is a change to enhance the clarity of the instructions on how to report the unduplicated number of Perkins Loan borrowers. The FISAP is due Friday, September 30, 2005, a day earlier than usual since October 1 falls on a Saturday. For additional information on this year’s FISAP, go to: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0509.html.

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New DRAP Process

Dear Colleague Letter CB0511 provides information on changes to the process by which schools participate in the Default Reduction Assistance Program (DRAP). Now fully electronic, the new process will begin in late July 2005 and will be initiated via the eCampus-Based (eCB) Web site. Campus Partners has been in discussions with the Department of Education concerning the challenges this presents regarding the process in which a third party servicer would login to the eCB Web site. We will keep you posted on our progress in future editions of the Update. For additional information on this new process, go to: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0511Revised.html.

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Campus-Based Reallocation Form and Process for 2004-2005

Dear Colleague Letter CB-05-10 describes the 2004-2005 Campus-Based Reallocation Form and process. The form will be available on the eCampus-Based Web site in late July 2005. To help schools complete the form, this letter offers Q’s & A’s as well as a “Campus-Based Reallocation Form Worksheet” and “Campus-Based Reallocation Form Instructions.” http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0510.html.

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Volumes 2, 4, and 6 of the 2005-06 FSA Handbook Posted

Volumes 2, 4, and 6 of the 2005-06 FSA Handbook have been posted to the Web. Here is a breakdown of each volume.

• Volume 2 - School Eligibility and Operations includes the following 12 chapters: Institutional Eligibility; Applying for Participation in the FSA Pro grams; General Participation Requirements; Program Eligibility; Updating Application Information; Providing Consumer Information; Written Agree- ments Between Schools; Distance Education; Recordkeeping and Disclosure; Administrative Capability; Financial Standards; and Program Integrity.

• Volume 4 - Processing Aid & Managing FSA Funds includes the following three chapters: the MPN & the Stafford/PLUS Loan Process, Disbursing FSA Funds, and Requesting and Managing FSA Funds.

• Volume 6 – Campus-Based programs includes the following five chapters: Participation, Fiscal Procedures and Records; Operating a Federal Work- Study Program; Making Perkins Loans; Perkins Forbearance, Deferment, and Cancellation; and Perkins Billing, Collection, and Default.

You can access the Federal Student Aid Handbook at www.ifap.ed.gov under “Publications.”

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Time to Update Federal School Code Information

Schools are reminded that it is time to update their Federal School Code (FSC) name, address, and contact information on the Schools Portal: E-App for Schools Web site. These updates will be added to the 2006-2007 Federal School Code List that is used by students to find the codes of schools they want to include on their FAFSA. For additional information, go to: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0630FedSchoolCodeList.html.

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Third-Party Compliance Audit Report Available Soon

Our third-party compliance audit, conducted by Porter Keadle Moore, LLP,
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005 is in the process of being finalized. If you have ordered an audit report, we will mail it to you in early August. Audit request

forms, which can be mailed or faxed to us, are available from our Web site at http://www.campuspartners.com/documents/Audit_Request_Form.pdf.

Attachment: Audit Request Form

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Expanding Other Cost into Multiple Types

We are happy to announce that we will be expanding our current other cost field(s) to include seven different types of other cost in August. All other costs that were assessed and/or paid before our August release will be called “Additional Cost.” The cost type for “Additional Cost” will be known as an “A” type cost.

Along with the “Additional Cost” type, we will be adding the following new cost types:

We will also be adding the cost types of “1,” “2” and “3.” These cost types are available to our customers to assign a description. If you would like information on setting up the other cost types of “1,” “2,” or “3,” please contact your Customer Service Representative.

The following is a brief description of how this enhancement will work:

• “Fees Due” information will not change. It will continue to be the total of late charges due, collection fees due and all other cost types due.

• “Year to Date Other Cost Paid” and “Cumulative Other Cost” paid will reflect the total of the other cost types paid. This will apply to System III on-line screens, web pages, and all current reports.

• We have created a new report called “Cost Detail Report.” This report will provide you with information about the amount of the fee that was assessed, reversed, paid, or adjusted by cost type.

• On-line users will notice that we have changed the Loan Display/Trans Input-2 (LN2) screen. We have replaced the other cost due field with a “ADDL COST DUE” (additional cost due field). Any amounts reflected in this field will denote additional cost due amounts only and will not include the other cost types. Any amount added in this field will automatically add to the additional cost type.

• A new “ADD COST” (option COST) screen will be added to System III. The screen will provide the user with the ability to add cost to a loan by the new cost types. This screen will also provide the user with a description of the cost type being added to the loan. “Cost Due” information, “Cost Paid Cumulative” information, and “Cost Paid Year-To-Date” information by cost type will also be provided on this screen.

• On-line users will notice that we have changed the Loan Display/Trans Input-5 (LN5) screen and Default Processing (DFLT) screen . These screens will display the total of other cost due (all cost types) but will not allow the user to update other cost due amounts.

• For on-line users, the Fees Reversal (FEES) screen has been enhanced to reflect the other cost type.

• We have also enhanced the information displayed in history to reflect the other cost type with all other cost transactions.

We are planning on providing the new cost types during the month of August and will provide more information in the August issue of the Campus Partners Update. If you have any questions, please contact your Customer Service Representative.

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RAAN Number Added to Report

In September 2004, we began printing the Randomly Assigned Account Number (RAAN) on correspondence sent from our office to your borrowers. Based on requests that we have received from our customers, we have added the RAAN number to the Borrower Loan Cross Reference Report. Because borrowers who were archived prior to the release of RAAN were not assigned a number, you may notice that some borrowers do not have a RAAN number. However, borrowers without a RAAN number will automatically be assigned one when the loan is unarchived.

The Borrower Loan Cross Reference Report is loaded into eXpressReports as “Borrower/Loan Number X-Ref.” This report can be either downloaded or printed via eXpressReports.

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Customer Insight

“Other companies have shown me their systems, but I think ‘why complicate things?’ With System III, it is so easy to look up accounts and read the screens. It only takes a second to learn how to look up things. I am very concerned with giving borrowers the most accurate answers to their questions, so again System III comes in handy.” Brenda Douglas is the Assistant Bursar at Elon University

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iPROMise Reminder

It’s been almost a year since we launched iPROMise, and already many colleges and universities are using the product to simplify the entrance interview process. With iPROMise, your incoming students can go online to answer federally required entrance interview questions, download disclosure and Total Loan Indebtedness forms, and either E-Sign their Master Promissory Note or download a copy and sign the note with pen and ink.

For more information concerning how you can sign up for iPROMise and relieve yourself of some of the time consuming minutiae associated with entrance interview counseling, please contact your Customer Service Representative. For more information, you can also consult this month’s “How To Use iPROMise.”

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Happy Anniversary, Campus Partners!

On July 21, Campus Partners celebrated its 40th anniversary with a noontime barbeque lunch and other festivities. Originally established in 1964 by Wachovia Bank, Campus Partners, now a privately owned company, is the nation’s most experienced loan servicer, and currently manages over $2 billion in loan assets.

The celebration coincided with the anniversary of signing servicing agreements with its first eight customers, Belmont Abbey College, Bennett College, Catawba College, Elon University, High Point University, Mars Hill College, Pfeiffer University, and Salem College, in July 1965. Two more customers, Meredith College and Lenoir Rhyne College contracted with the company later that year. We are proud to say that all remain customers today.

“We are very excited to be celebrating our 40th anniversary. The company has continued to grow and launch new products for our customers. We offer our customers the best of both worlds, unmatched experience and insight coupled with the latest technology,” stated Beth Bealle, Vice President of Campus Partners.

To add to the festivities, Campus Partners encouraged employees to dress in 60’s fashions. Pictures will be available soon.

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Happy 40th Anniversary, Campus Partners

 

Long-Term Customers

In addition to the colleges listed above, we are celebrating partnerships with quite a few long -term customers this quarter. Special recognition goes to Harrisburg Area Community College, Marymount Manhattan College, Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and The Citadel, all of which have been our customers for 35 years. We also want to thank Birmingham-Southern College, Southwestern Christian College, and the University of Bridgeport for allowing us to service their loans for the past 30 years.

Names of all customers attaining 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40-year anniversaries with us during this quarter are attached. Customers reaching anniversaries with us during the fourth quarter of 2005 will be listed in the October Update.

Attachment: Long-Term Customer Anniversaries

 

Customer Closeup

In this month’s “Customer Closeup,” we are featuring Brenda Douglas, Assistant Bursar at Elon University. Brenda has been working at Elon for eight years, and is very proud of the University’s academic excellence and other accomplishments. Elon University is located in Elon, N.C., one hour from our Service Center.

According to Elon’s Web site, www.elon.edu, the private university was founded in 1889. It enrolls 4,796 undergraduate and graduate students and offers 50 fields of study, the most popular of which are business, communications and journalism, education, psychology, and history. Among its other awards, Elon was rated #6 among 130 master’s level southern universities in the 2005 U.S. News and World Report “America’s Best Colleges” guide and is listed in the Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the nation’s “best buy” private colleges and universities.

We are very proud of our role in aiding the University over the last 40 years, and look forward to continuing our partnership for many more years.

Welcome New Customers

Campus Partners is pleased to welcome two new customers, Northwestern University and Trinity College this quarter. Northwestern had previously serviced their loan program internally and Trinity converted from another loan servicer. We will also welcome Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia next month.

Northwestern University

Northwestern University, a premier private institution, was founded in 1851. Today the University enrolls 7,840 undergraduate students and 6,119 graduate students. Combined with evening and part-time students, the University enrolls approximately 17,000 students on its Evanston and Chicago campuses. It offers a full spectrum of degrees through its schools of Arts and Science, Communications, Education and Social Policy, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Journalism, Law, Management, Medicine, Music, and Evening and Graduate programs. The University is recognized as one of the preeminent institutions in the world well known for its innovative teaching, pioneering research, and distinguished faculty. Renowned graduates include author Saul Bellow, a Nobel Prize recipient, John Paul Stevens, a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Dr. Johnnetta Cole, President of Bennett College (another customer), George McGovern, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate, and Sherry Lansing, Chairman, Paramount Pictures. More information about Northwestern University is available through its Web site at www.northwestern.edu.

Ingrid Stafford, Associate Vice President for Business and Finance of Northwestern University, indicated that the decision to outsource its Perkins and institutional loan programs was carefully deliberated. “We thoroughly researched the benefits of outsourcing our student loan accounting services and decided outsourcing not only was cost effective, but also made sense due to the increasing complexity associated with loan servicing, Stafford commented.

“We are very happy to welcome Northwestern University to our community of customers. Northwestern is a nationally recognized university, well known for its high standards and commitment to its students. It is an honor to have been selected for this important work,” stated Mark Olson, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Campus Partners.

Trinity University

In late May, Trinity received a visit from Brad Resler, National Sales Manager, so they could learn more about Campus Partners and how the company could help them with the strategic management of their Perkins loan portfolio. By mid-August, Trinity will be utilizing the technologies and services of Campus Partners. For Carol Burns, Assistant Controller at Trinity, this development couldn’t be more welcomed. “With our former service provider, we felt like our business was not important to them. With Campus Partners, we have been treated like our business is very important and that all steps are being taken to ensure that our loan portfolio is managed with great care. We feel like we’re all on the same team.”

At the same time Carol and her colleagues decided to evaluate their loan servicing options, they also reassessed the amount of work that would be beneficial to hand over to a third party. That resulted in moving from a level of service that required Trinity to maintain all of their borrower collateral (i.e. MPNs) on file, as well as performing other administrative processes associated with maintaining the program, to Campus Partners’ Enhanced Service option. Now all of the burdens and worries associated with administering the program, staying in compliance, and providing best-in-class borrower services will be the responsibility of Campus Partners. “Managing federally regulated loan portfolios is one of Campus Partners’ areas of expertise. They have invested in technology and have the processes in place to efficiently and effectively handle all of the administrative requirements that go along with federal programs. Rather than continuing to invest in capital and resources internally, it made sense for us to outsource most of our loan portfolio administration to the experts,” Carol stated. Trinity also signed up for Campus Partners’ E-Exit and iPROMise loan counseling and note presentment services, the latter of which they will implement immediately for this fall’s new Perkins recipients. Catherine Geier, Assistant Vice President for Student Financial Services, is looking forward to offering Trinity’s students a higher level of service with the coming changes. “We have found that online MPNs and loan counseling have greatly streamlined our FFELP process. Students receive more personalized and timely information in a format that is convenient with their busy schedules. We were anxious to provide the same service for Perkins borrowers.”

The proof as to how efficient Campus Partners is in transitioning Trinity’s portfolio won’t be fully realized for another four to six weeks, but thus far the data transfer is proceeding on schedule and as planned. “We have been very impressed with the commitment Campus Partners has shown to making this transition process as smooth as possible. We received a very clear list of the tasks involved early in the process, and we have received all the support we have needed to make sure the transition stays on track,” Catherine commented when asked what her initial experience working with the company has been like. Trinity markets its institution and academic programs to prospective students using the adage “Innovation. Integrity. Influence.”, and clearly expects nothing less in terms of the values its vendor partners bring to its servicing relationships. Campus Partners looks forward to working with Trinity University and its borrowers to uphold and strengthen these priorities.

Next Web Conference Scheduled for August 22 at 2:00 ET

Our next Web conference, which is scheduled for August 22 at 2:00 p.m., will focus on our Early Intervention and Cohort Right Track programs as well as our Enhanced Service option. If you want to learn more about these innovative products designed to help you reduce your overall or cohort default rates or outsource more of your student loan responsibilities, please register today.

Through Web conferencing, you can see our product demonstrations and PowerPoint presentations through your computer screen. No special equipment is necessary and the cost of the training is free. You do not even have to pay for the telephone call. If you would like to learn more about Web conferencing or have any questions about the process, please contact LaShonda Hairston, Account Manager, at 800-458-4492, ext. 2281 or Carolyn Williams, Marketing Manager, at 800-458-4492, ext. 2383.

To sign up for the Web conference, please e-mail Debra Pitts, our Administrative Assistant at dpitts@campuspartners.com. The deadline for registration is August 15.

Teleseminar Training

In addition to our Web conferences, our popular teleconferences series continues. Offering this training provides us the opportunity to reach out to schools who cannot attend Student Loans 101 or 202 workshops in Winston-Salem. Each teleseminar is geared toward understanding a particular area of student loans and is an opportunity to gain new insight, ask questions, and hear helpful feedback from other schools.

Please see the 2005 Teleseminar Schedule below. Teleseminars are usually offered the second Monday of each month from 2:00 to 3:30 ET. If you want to participate in these training sessions, just e-mail Debra Pitts at dpitts@campuspartners.com at least three days before the scheduled teleseminar, and she will e-mail you the telephone number that you need to call. The training is free and well worth your time.

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