Guidance For Those Impacted by Recent Disasters

We would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to those affected by the recent hurricane in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida.

In February 2004, the Department of Education published general guidance regarding Title IV participants affected by disasters. In that letter, ED provided regulatory and administrative relief to lessen the impact of a federally declared disaster on students, schools, lenders, and guaranty agencies. Due to the devastation caused by recent hurricanes, this guidance will be of interest to many of our customers and their borrowers. This guidance is available at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0404.html. If you have any question regarding this guidance, contact your Customer Service Representative.

COHEAO Mid-Year Conference Report

COHEAO held its mid-year conference on July 30 in Newport Beach, CA. Along with presentations on Reauthorization and information from the Department of Education, Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, addressed the group.

The conference focused on what has happened over the past several months and the latest news regarding saving the Perkins program. The House Education and the Workforce Committee has reauthorized the Higher Education Act and the Perkins Loan Program with it. However, reauthorization legislation has not yet been introduced in the Senate, and it has not yet become law. The Senate is expected to introduce and mark up its bill in mid-September.

So, will reauthorization occur this year? The consensus at this year’s conference was that it “was likely.” Major provisions in the Higher Education Act expire on September 30, 2005. If Congress fails to complete reauthorization by late September, a short-term extender bill will be likely, possibly extending the Act for six months.

Will the Perkins program be eliminated? Based on news received at this year’s conference, it appears likely that the Perkins program will not be eliminated. However, the fight is not over yet! Campus Partners and organizations such as COHEAO encourage you and your staff to continue your efforts to support the Perkins program. Visit Campus Partners’ resource page or the COHEAO resource page at www.coheao.org. These sights contain sample letters that can be easily customized as well as contact information for your representatives.

Pam Moran, Senior Program Specialist with ED, also provided a history of consolidation loans, past, present, and future for the attendees. Pam provided insight into two common practices to circumvent the single-holder rule:

Security breaches was another topic highlighted at the meeting. Richard Metz, Vice President of Administration and Business Affairs at California State University, East Bay discussed ways for institutions to handle security breaches. According to Metz, a well thought out plan can avoid panic and minimize damage. Key aspects of a plan include:

Clearly and defining roles and checklists for personnel after a security breach has been detected;

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Line 8 & 9 Addendum FISCOP Report

In mid-July, we provided customers with a Line 8 & 9 Addendum Report. This report contained the number of borrowers whose loans were paid in full under Part III, Section B. Items 8 and 9. Based on the low volume of “paid in full borrowers” on the previous report, Campus Partners re-ran this report. The new report contains a population of borrowers that were not included in the original report. This is good news as most of our customers experienced an increase in the number of borrowers that appear on this report. Since the Department of Education is looking at these figures to determine if mandatory assignments are necessary, this will only support the school’s defense that you are actively collecting on very delinquent accounts.

We have replaced the new report with the one previously provided on eXpressReports. If you have questions or need assistance in accessing eXpressReports, please contact your Customer Service Representative.

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Reminder: FISAP is due on September 30, 2005

Don’t forget that the Fiscal Operations Report for 2004-2005 and Application to Participate for 2006-2007 (FISAP) for the Perkins, FSEOG, and FWS programs are due on Friday, September 30, 2005 this year because October 1 is on a Saturday. Here is a link that provides instructions for this year’s FISAP: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/CB0509.html.

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New Guidance on Retroactive Cancellations

Gail McLarnon, Office of Postsecondary Education, also discussed new guidance from ED at this year’s COHEAO conference. According to ED, deferment runs “concurrent” with eligible cancellation service. Therefore, a borrower who has already completed the service eligible for cancellation benefits without filing the appropriate deferment preceding cancellation, would not receive the deferment. You should process the cancellation without applying the deferment first on the loan. This procedure would not only cancel principal, but also interest in this case.

Campus Partners has clarified with the Department of Education that a school would be reimbursed for the interest cancelled in this case once filed on the FISAP. Of course, the actual amount reimbursed depends upon the amount appropriated.

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Test of Adopted H.R. 609 Amendments Available

The Committee on Education and the Workforce has posted the text of all amendments that were adopted during the recent markup of H.R. 609, the “College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005,” which is the bill reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. You can view these documents at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.609.

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Federal Student Aid Handbook Errata and Updates for 2005-2006

ED published five changes to the 2005-2006 FSA Handbook that, unless otherwise indicated, are items that were amended after the initial PDF files were posted to the Web and before the Handbook went to print. To view these changes, go to:
http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/0506SFAHbkErrata.html

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Comments Sought on Direct Consolidation Loan Program

Comments on a reinstatement of the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan program application documents are due by October 11, 2005. You may view all forms by accessing ED’s Information Collection System Web site at: http://edicsweb.ed.gov. Click on “Browse Pending Collections,” then select “link number 2837.”

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Another Perfect Audit Completed

For the sixth consecutive year, Campus Partners has received perfect marks from our third-party audit firm, Porter Keadle Moore, LLP (PKM). We are pleased to announce that no findings were reported for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, and PKM issued its “unqualified” opinion, which means that it is issued “without reservation and unconditionally.”

If you have not ordered your copy of the June 30, 2005 audit report, please download and complete a Audit Report Request Form. The report is available in CD-ROM and paper formats. CD-ROM copies are $75.00, while paper copies are $100.00.

A chart detailing audit results for the past 18 years follows.

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E-Bill, an Easier Way to Pay

Over 27% of borrowers have registered to use our borrower Web site, www.mycampusloan.com, since its introduction in the spring of 2003. Borrowers are finding the Web site a convenient way to obtain account information and make online payments. One of the products they are quickly adopting is E-Bill, our electronic bill presentment service. We are conducting a campaign to increase enrollment in our E-Bill service because we believe it is a product that complements the webcentric life style of today’s borrowers. By signing up for E-Bill, borrowers can receive notification of their statement’s availability through their e-mail address, access their bill, and immediately choose to pay their bill through E-Pay without leaving their computer. If you would like any promotional materials to distribute to your borrowers, please contact your Customer Service Representative. E-Bill adoption benefits you, too. Not only is the likelihood of a quick electronic payment increased, you will receive a price adjustment for each borrower who enrolls in E-Bill.

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myReports

Do you ever get a request from an auditor or colleague in your office for a specific report that is not part of your standard report package? If you do, myReports is the answer. This tool allows you to log on with your current online password and ID and begin the process of creating customized reports using non-transaction data on the spur of the moment. The interface is easy to understand and training is available from your Customer Service Representative or Account Manager. Just complete and fax in a myReports Authorization Form, and we will notify you when myReports is available for your use. The application allows you to use “semi-customized” reports that are available from the Public Library area of myReports, and the Ad Hoc Reports tab allows you to completely customize your reports from hundreds of variables. You can also save the parameters of your reports in My Personal Library to speed up the process of recreating recurring reports.

myReports allows you to carefully examine the performance of your loan portfolio. You can isolate variables to see exactly where you stand with your collection efforts whenever you need that information. myReports can also be used to generate customized mail merge letters to send your borrowers.

On September 12, we will present a teleconference about myReports. To register, call Debra Pitts at 800-458-4492 or e-mail her at dpitts@campuspartners.com.

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Other Cost Types

Last month we announced that we had enhanced our ability to detail Other Cost associated with loan payments. This month we are including “How to Use Other Cost Types” in this issue of the Update. Please see the attached “How to” and “Other Cost Type Guide” for more information.

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Meet our Marketing and Sales Team

This month’s Update includes a feature about the members of our Marketing and Sales team. We have recently hired two new staff members , Sean Collins, Account Manager- South, and Donna Powell, Contract Administrator, to complete the team, and Brad Resler, National Sales Manager, has a new role in building relationships with current customers. In addition to this article, you can learn more about Sean, who is profiled in this month’s “Inside Campus Partners” feature.

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Customer Insight

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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.