Online Student Loan Counseling

A neutral counseling option

Presented by:Cathy Mueller

Executive Director, Mapping Your Future

History

In 1996, guaranty agency leaders saw the need to deliver online services to schools and students. By working together, the agencies could meet those needs.

Sponsors

• AES/PHEAA• American Student Assistance• College Assist• Connecticut Student Loan Foundation• ECMC • EDFUND• Education Assistance Corporation• Finance Authority of Maine• Florida OSFA• Georgia Student Finance Commission• Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation• Illinois Student Assistance Commission• Iowa College Student Aid Commission• Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority• Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance• Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority• Missouri Department of Higher Education• Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program

Sponsors

• National Student Loan Program• New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation• New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority• New Mexico Student Loan Guarantee Corporation• New York State Higher Education Services Corporation• North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority• Northwest Education Loan Association• Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program• Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority• South Carolina Student Loan Corporation• Student Loan Guarantee Foundation of Arkansas• Student Loans of North Dakota• Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation• TG • United Student Aid (USA) Funds, Inc.• Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority• Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

Friends

• Academic Finance Corporation• ALL Student Loan• American Student Loan Services• Arizona Federal Credit Union• Brazos Student Lending• Chase• Citibank• CollegEDGE/LoanSTAR• College Loan Corporation• Commerce Bank• Consolidation Center.com• COSTEP• Edfinancial Services• Education Finance Partners• Educational Direct• EFSI• IDAPP• Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans, Inc.• Key Bank

Friends

• Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority• MOHELA• Nelnet• NEW FUTURES• New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation• NextStudent• Panhandle-Plains Higher Education Authority• Priority Technologies, Inc.• Regent• Regions Bank• Rhode Island Student Loan Authority• SallieMae• SimpleTuition, Inc.• Southwest Student Services Corporation• Student Assistance Foundation of Montana• Student Funding Group, LLC. (StuFund)• Student Loan Finance Corporation• Student Loan Xpress• Studentloans.com

Friends

• SunTrust Bank• TCF National Bank• Total Higher Education (T.H.E.) Loan Program• U.S. Bank• Vangent• Wachovia Education Finance• Wells Fargo

Features

• Lender/guarantor neutral• Step-by-step instructions • Explanations of loan types • Annual loan limits (entrance) • Advice on borrowing conservatively

and maintaining the loan • Debt/salary wizard • Optional budget calculator• Customization options

Counseling sessions

• Stafford entrance• Stafford exit • Stafford entrance (Spanish)• Stafford exit (Spanish)• Perkins entrance • Perkins exit• Stafford and Perkins combined

entrance • Stafford and Perkins combined exit

Counseling sessions

• Nursing Student Loan entrance • Nursing Student Loan exit• Health Professions entrance• Health Professions exit• Grad PLUS entrance• Grad PLUS exit• Stafford and Grad PLUS combined

entrance• Stafford and Grad PLUS combined exit

Demo counseling session

• Choose counseling type• Select Texas as state of school• Select MYF Demo School as school• Enter false student information on

student form

School

School participation

MYF Staff

OSLC checklist

• Utilize OSLC Key Points document• Review counseling type needs• Ensure appropriate staff has access• Regularly retrieve counseling records• Utilize customization options• Review correspondence with students

and website• Sign up for the OSLC E-News• Review the OSLC User’s Guide• Training-on-Demand videos

Borrower process

• Receives instructions/directions• Starts counseling session– Mapping Your Future website– School link– Lender or guarantor link– Integrated process with MPN

• Reads content and correctly answers questions

• Completes online form• Receives confirmation number

Security

• Secure web server and password protection – Borrower form is secure – Retrieve records from secure,

password-protected FAO Access Area • Not able to share password• Change password every 90 days • Staff can’t see password

• Borrower data only online for one year

Regulatory requirements

• Maintain documentation substantiating compliance

• Provide sample repayment information– Stafford entrance– Grad PLUS entrance– Stafford exit

• Respond to borrowers' questions• Forward Stafford exit counseling

records to guaranty agency• Disclose written repayment

information to Perkins borrowers

Regulatory requirements

• Borrowers not be able to circumvent or exit counseling before session is complete

• Information in counseling sessions meets applicable regulatory requirements

• OSLC team and staff continue to monitor regulations

Final Rules/New regulations

• Cooperative arrangements• Online Counseling vs. In-Person

counseling• Stafford and Grad Plus• Teach Grant

Documentation

• Retrieve paper counseling records from FAO Access Area– Daily records box (on day at a time)– Reports tab • Counseling session reports: View or

print for specific date range or since the last time• Ad hoc reports: Search specific fields• Search tab: Last name or SSN

• Export counseling records from FAO Access Area

• Create automated method

Documentation

• Mapping Your Future isn’t record keeper

• Archive policy– Schools have access to one year of

data– Two more years are available by

customer service request– All prior data is unavailable

Sample repayment amounts

• Stafford entrance– Range of indebtedness or – Average indebtedness of borrowers

who obtained Stafford Loans for attendance at school or in program of study

– If student borrows Stafford AND Grad PLUS loans, sample repayment amount based on average indebtedness must include both Stafford and Grad PLUS indebtedness

Sample repayment amounts

• Grad PLUS entrance– Range of debt levels or – average indebtedness of Grad PLUS

borrowers at school or in program of study

– If student borrows Stafford AND Grad PLUS loans, sample repayment amount based on average indebtedness must include both Stafford and Grad PLUS indebtedness

Sample repayment amounts

• Stafford exit– Borrower's actual indebtedness or – Average indebtedness of borrowers

who obtained Federal Stafford or SLS loans at school or in program of study

Sample repayment amounts

• Display information with monthly payment amount at maximum interest rate – With instructions to borrower– On your website– On customized counseling start page

• Use indebtedness customization

Sample repayment amounts

Sample repayment amounts

Borrower questions

• In full in individual e-mail notifications • In full in confirmation records online• On printable reports (may be limited if

comment is long) • Notation on batch e-mail notifications

• Individual—One message sent per counseling session

• Batch—One daily e-mail per counseling type with borrowers who completed counseling prior day

• None—Can elect to receive message if borrowers enter questions/comments

e-mail notifications

ExitExpress

• Must share Stafford exit information to guarantor within 60 days of student completing counseling

• Clearinghouse provides guarantor name on Stafford exit record

• Mapping Your Future provides record to guarantor

• Guarantor retrieves record• School ensures guarantor retrieves

record

ExitExpress

• Individual confirmations: Asterisk and a date indicates when guarantor retrieved report

• Exit report list: "Status" under GA• Guarantor Exception Report: List of

records guarantor has not retrieved• Guarantor Rejection Report: List of

exit records guarantor rejected (didn’t guarantee loan for borrower)

Customization

• Display school logo in session • Choose questions borrowers must

answer• Expand counseling content with

money management information• Add average indebtedness

information• Determine whether students must

complete budget• Customize counseling start page

Customization

• Require borrowers to complete all fields on student form

• Direct borrowers to specific web page upon completing counseling

Display school logo

• On customized start page• At top of every page within session– Requires minimal programming

(request documentation)– Enforces end URL

Customized questions

• Select questions from list • Default questions to start• Minimum number of questions

required• Can submit questions for inclusion in

list

Expanded counseling

• Building good credit• Budgeting• Saving• Credit card use• Credit reports

Questions and expansion

Indebtedness information

Budget calculator

• By default, excluded from entrance sessions

• By default, included in exit sessions

Counseling start page

• Provide important school-specific information to borrowers– Important dates– Disbursement procedures– Refund policies– Sample repayment amounts– Contact information

• Template simplifies development (no HTML knowledge needed)

• One page per counseling type

Counseling start page

• Options– Wizard—create a new page– Edit—edit existing page– Submit—Submit page for approval

• To add school logo, insert URL for logo in image box

• Type text directly into Pagemaster Edit box

• Save changes every 15 minutes• Link to customized page from school,

lender, or guarantor website

Counseling start page

Student form

• Require borrowers to complete all fields– Get references during entrance

counseling– Great for schools with high drop-out

rates

• Default setting requires borrowers to complete only regulatory required fields

Student form

End URL

FAO Access Area

• Meteor school access• Retrieve counseling records• Verify guarantors retrieve Stafford

exit records• Manage users • Change e-mail notification options• Customize counseling

Contact

Beth ZiehmerCustomer Care/Operations Coordinatorfeedback@mappingyourfuture.org(573) 796-3730

Cathy MuellerExecutive Directorcathy@mappingyourfuture.org(940) 497-0741