USA Funds issues annual report, 'How We Serve'
Report highlights guarantor's multiple roles in support of higher education
INDIANAPOLIS — USA Funds®, the nation’s leading education loan guarantor, has issued its annual report of services in support of preparation for, access to and success in higher education during the past year. The report, “How We Serve,” highlights the key roles that USA Funds plays in helping families prepare and pay for and complete postsecondary education.
Examples of the areas of service that USA Funds supported during the past year include the following:
Student Financial Assistance. Using United Negro College Fund scholarships, supported by grants from USA Funds, and a student loan backed by USA Funds, an Indianapolis native received his degree in business administration and accounting from Rust College, a historically black college in Holly Springs, Miss. The graduate now works for an accounting firm and is giving back to the organization that made his college education possible through his employer’s donation of accounting services to UNCF fund-raising events. During the year, USA Funds awarded $400,000 in grants to national scholarship organizations that primarily serve minority students and awarded an additional $8 million to more than 5,300 low- to moderate-income students through its own national scholarship program.
Financial Literacy. A team at the University of Hawaii at Manoa selected USA Funds Life Skills® as the financial literacy curriculum for peer mentors to deliver to fellow students during freshman orientations, dormitory programs and classroom sessions. More than 700 UH Manoa students have enhanced their money management skills as a result of their exposure to USA Funds Life Skills. UH Manoa also was a test site for the online version of USA Funds Life Skills, which will debut this spring. Nationwide, more than 500 colleges, universities and private career colleges have implemented USA Funds Life Skills.
Early Awareness. USA Funds Unlock the Future®, a program that encourages middle school students and their parents to prepare for higher education, received a facelift, including new materials and a new video. The video, “16 Summers,” describes the social pressures and economic challenges faced by a 15 year old girl and her family and how the girl ultimately comes to value her future. During the year 277 schools and organizations used USA Funds Unlock the Future to make 16,600 students and 5,500 family members aware of the benefits of higher education.
Student Loan Access. Representatives of USA Funds successfully advocated for congressional action to ensure access to federal student loan dollars in the wake of the credit crunch. Working through organizations like the National College Access Network and the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, USA Funds also promotes policies to help families gain access to higher education and to strengthen and streamline the financial aid process.
Student Loan Repayment. USA Funds’ student loan default aversion assistance last year helped student loan borrowers resolve payment problems on more than 1.3 million loan accounts on which payments were 60 days or more past due. By contacting and counseling borrowers with past-due loan payments, the team of 250 default prevention specialists averted more than $20 billion in loan defaults, saving taxpayers an estimated $19 billion and student loan borrowers $6.8 billion in potential loan default costs.
“Despite the unsettled financial and credit markets, USA Funds continues to serve in a variety of roles to ensure that every deserving student has the opportunity to benefit from higher education,” said Carl C. Dalstrom, USA Funds president and chief executive officer.