Colleges, universities cited for financial literacy, student loan default prevention efforts
USA Funds recognizes three schools for debt management excellence
INDIANAPOLIS — USA Funds®, the nation’s leading education loan guarantor, has announced the recipients of its 2008 Excellence in Debt Management awards. The awards recognize postsecondary institutions that support initiatives to enhance student financial literacy and curb student loan defaults.
“We are delighted to recognize these three colleges and universities for pursuing programs that help their students become wiser consumers and enable their students to better manage their education costs,” said Carl C. Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO. “These schools have adopted creative and effective programs to help current and former students manage credit to finance their postsecondary studies and to prevent student loan defaults.”
USA Funds presented awards to the following colleges and universities:
Award of Excellence: Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Steadily increasing enrollments challenged this college to explore a more interactive and hands-on approach to the counseling of first-time student loan borrowers. As part of a college-wide initiative aimed at better educating first-time borrowers, the college launched a pilot program of in-person borrower counseling, established a full-time student default prevention manager position, and allocated funding for tuition assistance grants to replace loan dollars to students at risk of loan default. The college also employs two part-time student-workers to contact student loan borrowers who have fallen behind in their payments. The college has seen its cohort default rate decline to its lowest level in 10 years and also has recorded a reduction in loans issued to first-time borrowers.
Award of Merit: University of Hawaii at Manoa
As part of an initiative to enhance the money management knowledge of its students, the flagship campus of the University of Hawaii system recruited 15 students to serve as peer educators. Using materials drawn from sources including USA Funds’ financial literacy program, USA Funds Life Skills®, these students have conducted more than 20 financial literacy sessions reaching 500 students during new-student orientations, as part of dormitory programs and in freshman seminars. Evaluations have shown that, compared with nonparticipants, the workshop participants had increased their awareness of money management issues on 13 of 20 indicators.
Award of Merit: Orange Coast College
This Costa Mesa, Calif., community college uses components of USA Funds Life Skills to teach students about sound money management practices, offers financial aid orientations, and uses USA Funds Debt Manager® to contact student loan borrowers. USA Funds Debt Manager is a Web-based tool that permits schools to target e-mail, mail or telephone calls to student loan borrowers to promote successful student loan repayment. During the past five years, Orange Coast College has reduced its cohort default rate to 5.4 percent from 14.8 percent, while adopting a paperless loan process and focusing on student success and customer service.
The award recipients were selected by USA Funds staff and by the recipients of USA Funds 2007 Excellence in Debt Management awards. Those recipients are: Candi Frazier, associate director of financial aid, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, W.Va.; Erma Ruiz, default manager, International Academy of Design and Technology, Tampa, Fla.; Steve Weeden, manager of loan repayment, Indiana Business College, Indianapolis.