USA Funds Update

USA Funds Awards $900,000 to Enhance College Access for Lower-Income Students
USA Funds^® has announced the award of a total of $900,000 in grants to six communities that are working to increase the number of youths who complete high school and successfully pursue postsecondary education. Read more.

USA Funds Lists Top-100 Lenders
USA Funds lists the top-100 lenders of USA Funds-guaranteed loans for March. Read the list.

Operations Bulletin

Continued Suspension of NSLDS Access Affects Loan Services
USA Funds advises its customers that the continued suspension of guarantor, lender and servicer access to the National Student Loan Data System is affecting education-loan services. Learn more.

Department Releases Audit Guide on 9.5-Percent Minimum Special-Allowance Eligibility
In Dear Colleague Letter FP-07-06, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General issued an Auditor’s Guide that provides information to help in identifying loans that the Department will accept as eligible for special-allowance payments at the minimum 9.5-percent rate. You will need Adobe Reader to view the letter and guide.

Policy Frequently Asked Question: Parent PLUS Loans Following Death of the Student
USA Funds’ policy experts address the issue of how a school should handle parent-PLUS-loan funds in the event of the death of the student for whom the loan was borrowed. Learn more.

Washington Report

Education Secretary Counters Cuomo’s Criticism
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings responded to criticism from New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of her department’s oversight of education lenders. Cuomo had said that “the U.S. Department of Education has been asleep at the switch” regarding oversight of alleged unethical practices by some education lenders. Read more.