USA Funds Update
USA Funds Supports Record $27.3 Billion in Education Loans
USA Funds® guaranteed a record $27.3 billion in loans to help families pay higher-education expenses during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2006. Read more.
USA Funds-Supported Initiative to Deliver College-Preparatory Messages by Podcast
USA Funds awarded a $150,000 grant to a project that will deliver information about preparing for college to children and teens through podcasts. Learn more.
Reminder: Three USA Funds Lender Forums in November
Three USA Funds Education-Lender Forums are set for November. The forums are in San Francisco on Nov. 14, Los Angeles on Nov. 15 and the Phoenix area on Nov. 16. The events alert lender-customers of the latest developments in the ever-changing education-finance marketplace. Learn more and register online for the November forums.
USA Funds Staff Member Elected to Board of National College Access Network
The National College Access Network has elected Terry Muilenburg, USA Funds senior vice president, government and industry relations, to its board of directors. Read the announcement.
Tech Talk
OpenNet Enhancements Offer New Search Field, Multi-Loan View
The latest enhancements to OpenNet will give USA Funds customers more flexibility to perform borrower Social Security-number searches. In addition, USA Funds school-customers will be able to view multiple loan details on a single OpenNet screen. Read more.
Loan Transaction Statement Available Via FTP
Effective Oct. 23, 2006, USA Funds® lender-customers will have the option of receiving their Loan Transaction Statements via File Transfer Protocol, rather than by tape cartridge. By converting to FTP, lenders will eliminate risks associated with transferring nonpublic data on a tape cartridge. To receive your LTS file through FTP, contact USA Funds Lender-Operations Manager Elaine Yednak or Lender-Relations Manager Brent Dove.
Debt-Management Perspectives
Customize Borrower Communications with USA Funds Debt Manager
Using USA Funds Debt Manager®, financial-aid administrators can customize letters and e-mail messages, and also make telephone calls, to their borrowers. Learn more.
Operations Bulletin
Updated Electronic Common Manual Available
The new annual update to the Common Manual for 2006 incorporates changes from the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005, as well as other revisions approved during the past year by the Common Manual Governing Board. You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the Common Manual.
USA Funds Offers Guidance on Identity-Theft-Discharge Claims
While a common form is in development for borrowers to complete and lenders to use in documenting and filing a claim for the new identity-theft loan-discharge claim, USA Funds provides guidance regarding how to file this type of claim, as well as affidavits that lenders may use to obtain the necessary borrower certifications.
USA Funds to Adjust Some Default-Claim Payments
USA Funds is adjusting payments for certain claims filed by lenders and lender-servicers classified by the U.S. Department of Education as exceptional performers. Read more.