Campus Partners Processing Administrative Forbearances

As we communicated to you in an e-mail message dated September 14, 2005, Campus Partners is currently processing administrative forbearances for borrowers affected by Hurricane Katrina. We have now added borrowers affected by Hurricane Rita to that list. Our procedures are based on guidance issued by the Department of Education (ED), authorizing schools and their servicers to process an emergency administrative forbearance for borrowers with addresses in areas impacted by the hurricanes.

Our population includes borrowers who have a loan or loans in repayment and have a mailing address in a zip code within FEMA-designated Hurricane Katrina or Rita disaster areas. The period of forbearance runs from September 1 through December 31, 2005. Similar guidance has been published by the Department of Health and Human Services. Therefore, we also processed the same forbearance period for borrowers with HPSL, NSL, PCL, and LDS loans, as well as institutional loans, on our system. In all cases, borrowers have been notified that the forbearance is being processed and that they may decline the forbearance if they wish.

The forbearance was processed as a Type Y deferment, which does not count against the borrower’s three-year limit. Interest accrues during this period of forbearance, which will be billed at the end of the forbearance. The following history comment also accompanies this deferment, which reads: FORB FOR AL/LA/MS/TX DISASTER.

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Guidance Related to Hurricane Relief on IFAP

Guidance related to hurricane relief is posted to the IFAP Web site at www.ifap.ed.gov. To date, a series of five announcements have been posted, with the most recent addition being Announcement #5, posted September 16, 2005, regarding verification, dependency overrides, and professional judgment. There are also several links for students, parents, borrowers, colleges and universities, and financial institutions participating in federal higher education student assistance programs related to the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

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HHS Hurricane Guidance

HHS also provided similar guidance related to Hurricane Katrina in its Campus-Based Health Policy Memorandum 2005-2. This includes the Primary Care Loan (PCL), Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL), Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS), and Nursing Student Loan (NSL) programs. In addition to the forbearance guidance, HHS also included the following regarding eligibility for death cancellation:

The Department is authorizing schools to use reliable documentation of a PCL, HPSL, LDS, or NSL borrower’s death due to Hurricane Katrina, to suspend collection activities, without contacting the borrower’s family, during the period necessary to process a death cancellation. Reliable documentation may include, but is not limited to, obituary notices and/or published listings of the dead provided by a Federal, State, or local government entity. Schools are encouraged, at a later date, to obtain a certified copy of the death certificate if one is available through alternative sources without contacting the borrower’s family.

We are awaiting guidance from HHS concerning loan forbearance for borrowers impacted by Hurricane Rita and will keep you posted on any pertinent information in future communications.

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Senate Panel Approves HEA Reauthorization Bill

On Thursday, September 8, 2005, The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) unanimously approved S. 1614, The Higher Education Amendments of 2005, a bill reauthorizing the Higher Education Act of 1965, which includes reauthorization of the Perkins Loan Program. This legislation is expected to be rolled into a budget reconciliation bill. However, House and Senate leadership have stated that they will delay budget reconciliation efforts until later this year in order to deal with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The following is a summary of some of the changes to the Perkins program included in S. 1614:

	The bill reauthorizes the Perkins Loan Program through 2010.
	The bill adds forgiveness for early childhood educators, instructors at tribal colleges or universities, and librarians with a master’s degree in library science serving in Title I schools or libraries.
	Loan deferments are extended for people serving in the military (also extended for FFELP and Direct loans).
	Requests for forbearance are no longer required to be in writing. The three-year limit remains.
	The allocation formulas for Perkins, SEOG, and Work Study are not changed.
	Consolidation loan lenders are specifically required to inform Perkins Loan borrowers of the loan forgiveness and other aspects of the Perkins Loan Program before consolidating their Perkins Loans.

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What’s New in the 2005-2006 Federal Student Aid Handbook

ED has listed the items that changed from last year’s Federal Student Aid Handbook, which is a valuable resource for guidance in administering the Federal Perkins Loan program.

The following link provides you with a summary of the items that have changed: http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/0506handbookchanges.html. You can view the 2005-2006 Handbook on the IFAP Web site at www.ifap.ed.gov. On the home page under “Publications,” click on Federal Student Aid Handbook.

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Approval of Loan Discharge Applications

Recently published Dear Colleague Letter GEN-05-12, announces the approval of revised School Closure, False Certification of Ability to Benefit, False Certification (Disqualifying Status), and Unauthorized Signature/Unauthorized Payment loan discharge applications and provides guidance on the implementation of these revised forms. The attachments to this letter contain revised OMB approved loan discharge application forms for use in the Title IV loan programs. The Loan Discharge Application for School Disclosure is one of the revised forms for Perkins loans. This form should be used by borrowers who were unable to complete their program of study because their school closed. You may view this letter and its attachments at http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0512.html.

 

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2006-2007 FAFSA on the Web Worksheet and FAFSA Distribution

In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-05-10, FSA explains that it has redesigned the 2006-2007 FAFSA on the Web Worksheet based on feedback from students, parents, and aid administrators on how the worksheet could be improved. FSA seeks the cooperation of the aid community to promote use of the worksheet by students. You are reminded that the 2006-2007 FAFSA on the Web Worksheet is not an official FAFSA, and there is no requirement that it be used. However, it is an optional tool that students and families can use before going to the Web site to help them organize the documents they need to complete the FAFSA. The letter also discusses changes in the 2006-2007 printing and distribution plan.

To read more about this tool, go to http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0510.html.

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New Development Activities Are Underway at Campus Partners

What’s on your technology wish list? Wish no more because many of your wishes for product enhancements will be fulfilled in coming months. After relocating our data center and refining our IT processes and procedures, we are proceeding full steam ahead with new product development activities. Our goal is to provide technology solutions that make your jobs more effective and less burdensome.

Imagine the convenience of integrated entrance and exit interview solutions and an electronic promissory note that works for all loan types. Think of the speed at which even the newest member of your office staff could change separation dates or input new loans and advances through System 3i. Evaluate the likelihood of an increase in timely payments that could be achieved by accepting borrower credit card payments through mycampusloan.com, consider the speed at which scanned documents could be retrieved via the Web, and factor in the ability to create even more powerful reports by using an enhanced myReports, and you’ll have a good idea of the benefits that you will achieve as a result of our new product development plan.

E-Exit
Our Web-based exit counseling product for Perkins loans has been very successful. In less than a year, we have contracted with nearly 50 customers for the E-Exit service. Due to popular demand, our first priority is to expand E-Exit to include other loan types that we service, such as Health Profession, Nursing, and Institutional loans, and subsequently to include Federal Stafford loans from other databases, when applicable. This will provide a comprehensive product for exit counseling for your borrowers.

iPROMIse
Our electronic promissory note and entrance counseling product, iPROMise, is also gaining popularity as more customers turn to Web-based methods for entrance counseling and promissory note processing. We currently provide the service for Perkins loans, and are expanding iPROMise to include all loan types that we service.

System 3i
Another priority for Campus Partners is to expand functionality of System 3i, our Web-based application that allows customers to inquire and process transactions for loans in their portfolio. In the coming months, we will be adding search capabilities, displaying additional loans and history, and providing transaction capability for separation date changes, new loan input, and other frequently used transactions. We will continue to enhance System 3i to be a full-featured, easy to use system for you and your staff.

Credit Card Payments, Imaged Documents, and myReports
Other projects that are underway at Campus Partners include providing pay-by-credit card services for borrowers via mycampusloan.com, providing imaged documents to customers and borrowers via the Web, and providing additional data for ad hoc reporting via myReports.

These product enhancements will make a real difference in the way that you do business. You will spend less time handling paper and coordinating logistics so that you can devote more time to more important responsibilities--and maybe even have time for lunch. Stay tuned to the Update as more information becomes available about our new product offerings, and how you can take advantage of products and services that work for you and your borrowers.

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iPROMise Enhancements


Recent enhancements have made it easier than ever for customers to track their borrowers’ use of iPROMise. Customers are now able to receive weekly status update reports in an electronic file format. These files are delivered directly into each customer’s respective FTP folder. Receiving status update information in this manner allows the customer to extract and use this data for automatic updates within their office.

iPROMise, our electronic promissory note and entrance counseling product, helps alleviate much of the administrative work surrounding entrance counseling. It is a convenient way for borrowers to complete their entrance interview, accept their award, and e-sign their promissory note online without intervention on your part. You can track whether they accepted their award and signed their promissory notes through our reports. Your borrowers can initally download all required disclosure statements, and in subsequent years, can also obtain their Total Indebtedness Disclosure.

If you are interested in learning more about iPROMise, please contact your Customer Service Representative.

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Customer Insight

Fortunately, we have the EIP program, which has helped us a lot....We also have been working with our Customer Service Representative, Wendy (Cox), to simplify the tax refund intercept process. By using the FTP process instead of magnetic tape, we will be able to reduce the amount of time it takes to transmit the loan information to our tax office. Susan Mabe, University of Hawaii

Archive Criteria and Reminder

We will archive loans on the weekend of October 22. The complete selection criteria for archiving loans is listed below.

1. For loan status 91(disability cancellation), 92 (bankruptcy cancellation), or 96 (death cancellation) if the reprocessing date, paid-out date, and the last monetary activity date are all over two years in the past.

2. For loan status 94 (automatic write-off) or 95 (manual write-off) if the reprocessing date, paid-out date, and the last monetary date are all over five years in the past.

3. For loan status 90 (paid-in-full) if the reprocessing date, paid-out date, and the last monetary date are all over twenty-four months in the past.

4. All year to date paid fields are equal to zero.

5. Calendar year interest paid is equal to zero.

6. Calendar Year Capitalized Balance Paid must equal 0.00 before a loan can be archived.

7. TRA Prior Year Interest Paid must equal 0.00 before a loan can be archived.

8. Prior Year Interest Paid must equal 0.00 before a loan can be archived.

Note: Loans are archived at the borrower level. Therefore, all loans for a borrower must meet the above criteria before any loans for that borrower can be archived. This includes loans that a borrower has with different lenders, or loans that a borrower has with the same lender.

We have included a “How to” guide to locating archived loans on our system. After finding the loan, you can contact your Customer Service Representative to request that it be unarchived.

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Happy 40th Anniversary, Campus Partners

 

 

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 usuallyoffered 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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