Nation's leading education-loan guarantor posts 38-percent gain in loan volume

USA Funds Guarantees Record of Nearly $13.9 Billion in Education Loans

INDIANAPOLIS — USA Funds^®, the nation's leading education-loan guarantor, reports that it guaranteed a record of nearly $13.9 billion in loans to help students and parents pay higher-education expenses during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2002. The figure represents an increase of nearly $3.8 billion, or 38 percent over fiscal 2001.

USA Funds reported that its Federal Consolidation-loan volume more than doubled to nearly $5.7 billion for fiscal 2002, up from $2.7 billion for the previous year. The current historically low student-loan interest rates encourage federal education-loan borrowers to consolidate their loans. Federal Consolidation loans permit borrowers to "lock in" these current rates, because consolidation loans carry interest rates that are fixed for the term of the loan.

USA Funds also recorded a nearly 11-percent year-to-year increase in new Federal Stafford- and PLUS-loan volume. During the year, USA Funds guaranteed nearly $8.2 billion in new loans to students and parents. This figure includes more than $7.1 billion in Stafford loans and more than $1 billion in PLUS-loan volume.

"These loan-volume results reflect the high level of confidence that the nation's educational and financial institutions place in our services," said Carl C. Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO. "We strive to provide schools and lenders with the finest education-loan services available and to help ensure access to higher education for students."