USA Funds Prevents $23.7 Billion in Student Loan Defaults

/PRNewswire/ -- USA Funds®, the nation's leading education loan guarantor, reports that it prevented $23.7 billion in defaults on more than 1.5 million past-due federal student loan accounts during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. USA Funds' default prevention efforts were successful in averting default on more than 93 percent of loan accounts on which payments were reported by the lender as being 60 days or more past due.

USA Funds' default prevention efforts saved U.S. taxpayers an estimated $22.5 billion and student loan borrowers a projected $7.8 billion in additional costs associated with student loan default.

"The severe economic recession has generated a significant increase in student loan payment delinquencies," said Carl C. Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO. "Despite these challenges USA Funds has worked hard to maintain its default prevention success rate to spare taxpayers and student loan borrowers the expense of default."

As part of its default prevention efforts, USA Funds supports a team of 250 full-time professionals who work to contact student loan borrowers who have fallen behind in their payments and counsel them about the options for resolving their payment issues. Those options include scheduling a payment; flexible repayment plans, including income-based repayment options; and deferment and forbearance to temporarily postpone or reduce a borrower's monthly payments.

Last year this default prevention team made more than 85 million phone calls and sent 2.7 million pieces of correspondence to borrowers to assist them in resolving their student loan payment issues.

To promote successful student loan repayment, USA Funds supports additional services, including online borrower counseling programs, personal finance education for college students, as well as default prevention support to higher education institutions.

If, in spite of these efforts, borrowers default on their loans, federal law requires USA Funds to continue to pursue recovery of outstanding amounts owed taxpayers. During the past fiscal year, USA Funds recovered more than $1.2 billion from borrowers in default on their loans. This figure includes more than $459 million in rehabilitated loans, which permit borrowers who previously defaulted on their federal student loans to restore their accounts to repayment and improve their credit record.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Updated Federal Guidelines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza in Schools Offer Many Options

Updated federal guidelines offer state and local public health and school officials a range of options for responding to 2009 H1N1 influenza in schools, depending on how severe the flu may be in their communities. The guidance says officials should balance the risk of flu in their communities with the disruption that school dismissals will cause in education and the wider community.

The guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was announced today at a joint news conference by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.

The school guidance is a part of a broader national framework to respond to novel H1N1 influenza, which includes encouraging people to be vaccinated against the virus and to take other actions to avoid infection. The CDC anticipates more illness after the school year starts, because flu typically is transmitted more easily in the fall and winter.

``We’re going to continue to do everything possible to keep our children – and all Americans – healthy and safe this fall,’’ Secretary Sebelius said. ``But all Americans also have a part to play. The best way to prevent the spread of flu is vaccination. A seasonal flu vaccine is ready to go, and we should have one for the 2009 H1N1 flu by mid-October.’’

“The federal government continues to coordinate closely with state and local governments, school districts and the private sector on H1N1 preparation as we head into the fall flu season—and the upcoming school year,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Readiness for H1N1 is a shared responsibility, and the guidance released today provides communities with the tools they need to protect the health of their students and teachers.”

For an outbreak similar in severity to the spring 2009 H1N1 infection, the guidelines recommend basic good hygiene, such as hand washing. In addition, students or staff members with flu-like illness (showing symptoms of flu) should stay home at least 24 hours after fever symptoms have ended.

“We can all work to keep our children healthy now by practicing prevention, close monitoring, and using common sense,” Secretary Duncan said. “We hope no schools have to close. But if they do, we need to make sure that children keep learning.”

The guidelines also recommend schools have plans in place to deal with possible infection. For instance, people with flu-like illness should be sent to a room away from other people until they can be sent home. Schools should have plans for continuing the education of students who are at home, through phone calls, homework packets, Internet lessons and other approaches. And schools should have contingency plans to fill important positions such as school nurses.

If H1N1 flu causes higher rates of severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths, school officials could add to or intensify their responses, the guidelines say. Under these conditions, the guidelines advise parents to check their children every morning for illness, and keep the children home if they have a fever.

In addition, schools could begin actively screening students upon arrival and sending ill students home immediately. If one family member is ill, students should stay home for five days from the day the illness develops, the guidelines say.

“Influenza can be unpredictable, so preparation and planning are key,” said Dr. Frieden. “We can't stop the tide of flu, but we can reduce the number of people who become very ill by preparing well and acting effectively.”

For more information visit www.flu.gov.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Sallie Mae Helps 1.4 Million Customers Avoid Student Loan Default in 2008-2009 Academic Year, Another 400,000 Succeed by Repaying Loans in Full

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Despite the challenging economy and rapidly rising national unemployment, Sallie Mae and its guaranty agency partners helped a record 1.4 million customers resolve their past-due account status and avoid default on $22.8 billion of federal student loans last year. Another 400,000 Sallie Mae customers successfully managed their student loan investments by repaying their loans in full in the year ended June 30, 2009.

Effective loan default prevention benefits students who preserve their good credit; taxpayers who save billions of dollars; and higher education institutions who retain eligibility for federal financial aid for students.

The severe and lasting impacts of loan default include damage to the customer’s credit, the prospect of wage garnishment, the seizure of income tax refunds and federal benefit payments, the loss of eligibility for additional federal student aid, the denial or loss of professional licenses, the possibility of civil litigation and the possibility of being denied other forms of consumer credit for years to come.

Mary Gilbert was one of Sallie Mae’s customers who successfully paid in full last year, making her final student loan payment in January 2009. A 2005 graduate of Mississippi’s Meridian Community College with a degree in nursing, Ms. Gilbert experienced a series of personal and financial setbacks during her repayment period, including job loss and family medical issues, and avoided default by setting up a temporary payment relief plan.

“They were wonderful. They worked with me to set up a payment arrangement so that I was able to get back on track, which is what I wanted all along,” said Ms. Gilbert about Sallie Mae’s default prevention specialists. “People don’t realize that defaulting on a student loan is something that follows you for a long time.” Today, Ms. Gilbert is employed by a large hospital in Houston and uses her student loan repayment experience as valuable learning lesson for her three young daughters.

Beginning today, Sallie Mae has a new default prevention tool to assist federal student loan customers experiencing financial difficulty. The new income-based repayment option, or IBR, was authorized by federal law and allows eligible customers to cap their monthly bill at 15 percent of discretionary income. More information about IBR, including an eligibility worksheet and a repayment calculator are available from Sallie Mae at www.salliemae.com/ibr.

Separately, Congress is considering structural changes to the federal student loan programs. The company continues to advocate for enhancements to the Administration’s proposal that would have service providers compete to provide quality service to students not only in loan servicing, but also in loan origination, and would enhance default prevention success by requiring servicers to share in the risk of loan default.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page