Campus Partners Update Newsletter
July 1, 2009
Holiday Closing: Friday, July 3, 2009 - 4th of July (observed) |
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Monday, September7 - Labor Day, |
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Inside Campus Partners Roland Oliver
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COHEAO Works With Congress on Perkins Loan Changes
COHEAO has presented its Perkins Loan proposal to key members of Congress and is working with others in the Washington higher education community to gain support for its proposal. The Perkins revolving fund system is likely to be replaced by a new system that will include much larger amounts of funding available for Perkins Loans. The role that schools will play in administering the “new” Perkins Loan Program is still unclear.
COHEAO has continued to work vigorously to retain a role for schools in administering the program, and has called for the continuance of the in-school interest benefit, which President Obama’s proposal would eliminate by charging interest soon after loans are disbursed. In addition, COHEAO is supporting retention of current levels of lending under any new program for institutions that are now participating in the Perkins Program.
Campus Partners is working with COHEAO as it maintains its dialogue with Congress on this priority issue. More information on this complex topic is available at www.coheao.org. Campus Partners urges you to contact your elected members of Congress to let them know your opinion on the future direction of the Perkins Loan Program. As a student loan administrator, your ideas matter.
Campus Partners will keep you updated on new developments in future editions of the Update.
FISAP Reminder
In last month’s Update we summarized upcoming changes to this year’s FISAP report. We are in the process of implementing these changes on our system, and will publish complete information about these changes in next month’s Update.
Just as a reminder, we have scheduled the webinar, Understanding and Completing the FISAP, for Tuesday, July 7 at 3:00 PM Eastern. Register today by contacting Debra Pitts at dpitts@campuspartners.com.
Status of Federal Perkins Master Promissory Note (MPN)
In an email message Campus Partners sent to you on June 5, 2009, we provided information that we received from the Department of Education (ED) on the status of the current Federal Perkins Master Promissory Note (MPN), which is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2009. In an electronic announcement published on June 12, ED has confirmed that the information we communicated to you is correct.
To recap, the MPN must be approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). ED will not have OMB’s approval of the revised MPN until later this summer, but confirmed that schools may continue to use the MPN with the June 30, 2009 expiration date. This MPN will remain valid for use until the revised Perkins MPN has been approved and made available to schools.
For future reference and for audit purposes, you should document the above information from ED for MPNs signed after the June 30, 2009 expiration date. You may view the electronic announcement from ED at
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/061209StatusFedPerkinsLoanMPN.html.
Economic Hardship Changes Effective July 1, 2009
As published in our May 1, 2009 Update, one of the categories for economic hardship deferment will be eliminated effective July 1, 2009. The economic hardship category currently offered in 674.34(e)(5) of the Perkins regulations will be removed as one of the eligible categories effective July 1, 2009:
Section 674.34(e)(5) – Is working full-time and has a Federal education debt burden as determined under paragraph (e)(10) of this section that equals or exceeds 20 percent of the borrower’s total monthly gross income, and the borrower’s income minus such burden is less than 220 percent of the amount calculated under paragraph (3) of this section.
Please keep in mind that there are other criteria included in 674.34(e) that may qualify a borrower for economic hardship. However, we do understand that this change will have an adverse impact on borrowers, particularly in the medical and other health professions fields.
Some of our customers will be offering forbearance for borrowers that will not qualify for economic hardship after the change is in effect. Please note that if the borrower was already deferred for economic hardship based on the 20/220 criterion before July 1, 2009, which was granted for a period not to exceed 12 months from the pre-July 1, 2009 start date, the borrower may continue with that deferment.
We will publish an updated Application for Hardship/Unemployment Deferment on July 2, 2009 that reflects this change. You may download this form on this web site, and your borrowers at may download the form from www.mycampusloan.com.
Federal Perkins Cancellation Reimbursement for 2007-2008
As provided by Federal Perkins regulations, Perkins Loan borrowers may have all or part of their loans cancelled by engaging in teaching, military service, law enforcement or corrections officer service, service as a nurse or medical technician, Head Start service, service to certain types of high-risk children, and voluntary service. ED reimburses schools for their share of principal and interest cancelled during an award year. The questions and answers included in the document linked below explain the 2007-08 reimbursement process. To view this Q & A, go to
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/052909PerkinsCancelReimbursement0708.html.
Update on FTC “Red Flags Rule”
ED has published an electronic announcement informing schools participating in the Federal Perkins program that the FTC has granted a second delay of enforcement of the new “Red Flags Rule” until August 1, 2009. The delay was issued to give creditors and financial institutions (including some post secondary educational institutions) additional time to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs. This does not mean that the “Red Flags Rule” is not in effect, but only that the FCC will not enforce the rule until August 1, 2009. You may view this electronic announcement at
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/052109UpdateFTCRedFlagsRule.html.
2009 Poverty Guidelines from HHS
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published new poverty levels for 2009. The poverty levels provided via the link below must be used to establish the eligibility of a Perkins borrower for economic hardship deferment under regulation 674.34(e)(3), which measures the borrower’s income against the poverty line applicable to the borrower’s family size. These new amounts are effective as of the date the Federal Register Notice was published (January 23, 2009).
You may view the Poverty Guidelines for this and previous years on the HHS Web site at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml.
The Product Services team continues to be very busy as they respond to system changes required by regulations while managing system enhancements to facilitate the customer and borrower experience. To catch up with recent enhancements, please review the following attachment.
Attachment: Recent System Enhancements
Student Loan Default Rates in the News
The rise in student loan default rates is still a hot topic. A recent report released by the New York State Controller, Thomas DiNapoli, cites growing tuition rates, increased student loan borrowing, and the economic downturn as reasons for the rise in student loan default rates. The published report predicts this rate is likely to further increase due to rising unemployment. The report reiterates ED’s previous statement that the national student loan cohort default rate increased to 6.9% in FY 2007, up from 5.2% in FY 2006. Sallie Mae has reported that its private loan delinquency rate increased to 10.2% in FY 2008, compared with 8.3% in FY 2007.
Another article, “Graduates Get Option to Repay Student Loans Based on Income,” published in the May 19, 2009 online edition of USA Today, has attracted the attention of some of our customers. The article describes a repayment plan for federal Stafford, Grad Plus, and federal consolidated loans that calculates a borrower’s monthly payment amount as a factor of their income. Unfortunately, the program does not apply to other federal loan types, such as Perkins. We published information about this program in the May 2009 edition of the Update. While it may not benefit your Perkins borrowers, it may be of interest to you if you work with other loan programs. A link to more information about this loan repayment program is available at http://www.ibrinfo.org.
Our third-party audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 is currently underway. We have expanded the scope of our audit to include all loan programs serviced by Campus Partners. As a result, our auditor, Porter Keadle Moore, LLP, estimates the final report will be available for distribution by September 15. Please email Debra Pitts dpitts@campuspartners.com if you need preliminary results before that date.
An Audit Report Request Form is available on our Web site. We will keep you informed about the status of the audit in future issues of the Campus Partners Update
Attachment: Audit Request Form
Customer Appreciation
We are celebrating anniversaries of 40, 35, 30, and 25 years with the following customers. We are very appreciative of our customers’ continued loyalty over the years, and we are very proud to say that over 80% of our customers have been with us for over 20 years. Thanks for letting us serve you!
40 Years
Covenant College
University of Virginia
Averett University
35 Years
Hood College
30 Years
Methodist College
Colgate University
25 Years
Juniata College
Seattle Pacific University
Moore College of Art and Design
Marylhurst University
Albany Medical College
Gonzaga University
Please see the following attachment for additional customers observing other milestone anniversaries with us.
Attachment: Long Term Anniversaries
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“I am writing this email with much appreciation and gratitude for the Customer Representatives at Campus Partners. I have had the pleasure of working with all of your Representatives and I must say that Methodist University is very grateful for all of them and their exceptional skills and knowledge. It has been a pleasure working with them!! When I call or email them with my challenges of the day, they are all professional individuals that are willing to help with anything and go the extra mile without hesitating!! All of them have a high level of commitment to customer service that you don’t find at a lot of organizations and I hope that Campus Partners recognizes the assets that they have in each of them. Please pass this along to all of them so they will know how much we at Methodist University are thankful and appreciative of them. Thank you from Methodist University for your dedication to professionalism and customer service and we look forward to many more years with Campus Partners!” Vonda A. Howell |
The next session of Student Loans 101 will be presented July 9-10. This workshop is designed for less experienced student loan administrators or those who are new to the Campus Partners system. Participants will gain hands-on experience at individual workstations in our expanded training room
Student Loans 101: July 9-10
Time: Day One: 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM Day Two: 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
To register, fax a completed registration form to Debra Pitts at 336-607-2025.
Attachment:Student Loan 101 Registration Form
To register, fax a completed registration form to Debra Pitts at 336-607-2025.
Sign up for Web Conferences !
Please join us for our next Web conference, Understanding and Completing the FISAP, on Tuesday, July 7 at 3:00 PM Eastern
To register for one or more training events, please contact Debra Pitts at dpitts@campuspartners.com.
2009 Web Conference Schedule
| Topic | Date |
|---|---|
Understanding and Completing the FISAP |
Tuesday, July 7 3:00 to 4:30 Eastern |
Cohort: What is it and How Do I Manage it? |
Thursday, August 13 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern |
Where do I start? A Month to Month Guide |
Thursday, September 10 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern |
TBD |
Thursday, October 8 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern |
Regulations Update |
Thursday, November 12 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern |
Tips for Managing Delinquencies |
Thursday, December 10 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern |
Campus Partners staff will attend the following conferences..
COHEAO will hold their mid-year conference in Philadelphia, PA on August 1-4. We will provide more information as it becomes available. COHEAO’s Web address is http://www.coheao.org.
Williams & Fudge will hold its Student Loans and Receivables Collection Conference on September 20-23 at the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort. For more information, go to http://www.wfcorp.com/news/upcoming.html.
The Texas Bursars for Universities and Colleges will host the Texas BUC$ Conference at the Omni Bay Front Hotel on Oct. 11-14 at Corpus Christi, TX. More details are available at http://texasbucs.com.
The Minnesota Collection Network will present its Mega Conference XVII on Oct 19-21 at the Sheraton Bloomington in Bloomington, MN. More information is available at http://www.mnnetwork.org/.
Cutoff dates for June, July, August, and September are presented below:
Transaction
|
June2009 |
July 2009 |
Aug. 2009 |
Sept. 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Last day to receive collection payments |
6/23 |
7/28 |
8/25 |
9/25 |
Last day to receive regular payments |
6/24 |
7/29 |
8/26 |
9/28 |
Last day for online payments |
6/26 |
7/31 |
8/28 |
10/2 |
Date final post begins |
6/26 |
7/31 |
8/28 |
10/2 |
Report date used for final post |
6/30 |
7/31 |
8/31 |
9/30 |
Last day deposits created for deposit to bank account |
6/26 |
7/31 |
8/28 |
9/30 |
2009 Cutoff Dates
Month |
Last day to receive collection payments |
Last day to receive regular payments |
Last day for on-line payments |
Date final post begins |
Report date used for final post |
Last day deposits created for deposit to bank account |
December 2008 |
12/26/2008 |
12/29/2008 |
1/2/2009 |
1/2/2009 |
12/31/2008 |
12/31/2008 |
January 2009 |
01/27/2009 |
01/28/2009 |
01/30/2009 |
01/30/2009 |
01/31/2009 |
01/30/2009 |
February 2009 |
02/24/2009 |
02/25/2009 |
02/27/2009 |
02/27/2009 |
02/28/2009 |
02/27/2009 |
March 2009 |
03/24/2009 |
03/25/2009 |
03/27/2009 |
03/27/2009 |
03/31/2009 |
03/27/2009 |
April 2009 |
04/27/2009 |
04/28/2009 |
05/01/2009 |
05/01/2009 |
04/30/2009 |
04/30/2009 |
May 2009 |
05/26/2009 |
05/27/2009 |
05/29/2009 |
05/29/2009 |
05/31/2009 |
05/29/2009 |
June 2009 |
06/23/2009 |
06/24/2009 |
06/26/2009 |
06/26/2009 |
06/30/2009 |
06/26/2009 |
July 2009 |
07/28/2009 |
07/29/2009 |
07/31/2009 |
07/31/2009 |
07/31/2009 |
07/31/2009 |
August 2009 |
08/25/2009 |
08/26/2009 |
08/28/2009 |
08/28/2009 |
08/31/2009 |
08/28/2009 |
September 2009 |
09/25/2009 |
09/28/2009 |
10/2/2009 |
10/2/2009 |
09/30/2009 |
09/30/2009 |
October 2009 |
10/27/2009 |
10/28/2009 |
10/30/2009 |
10/30/2009 |
10/31/2009 |
10/30/2009 |
November 2009 |
11/20/2009 |
11/23/2009 |
11/25/2009 |
11/27/2009 |
11/30/2009 |
11/25/2009 |
December 2009 |
12/28/2009 |
12/29/2009 |
12/31/2009 |
12/31/2009 |
12/31/2009 |
12/31/2009 |
January 2010 |
01/26/2010 |
01/27/2010 |
01/29/2009 |
01/29/2009 |
01/31/2009 |
01/29/2009 |
