USA Funds Update

USA Funds University Offers Online Courses for Student-Employees
Six courses designed to educate student-employees about working in a campus environment now are available through the USA Funds^® University online-learning site. Read more.

USA Funds University Presents Customer-Service Webcasts
USA Funds University will offer customer-service webcasts in July and August to help financial-aid staff provide outstanding service to students and other campus constituents. Learn more.

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

Debt-Management Perspectives

Yavapai College Lowers Default Rate With Help of USA Funds Debt Manager
Yavapai College stays in contact with its education-loan borrowers with the help of USA Funds Debt Manager^®, which the assistant financial-aid director credits with helping to lower the school’s cohort-default rate. Read more.

Operations Bulletin

Expiration Date Extended for Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Application
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget announced an extension through May 31, 2008, the expiration date for the total-and-permanent-disability education-loan-discharge form. The OMB’s announcement instructs the U.S. Department of Education to “substantially revise” the form based on public comments by the May 31, 2008, expiration date and to explore the possibility of an electronic form. The current form’s original expiration date was Dec. 31, 2005. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the form.

NCHELP Publishes Best Practices for Implementing Reauthorization Changes
The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs recently published a table of best practices for implementing some of the provisions of the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005. The questions and answers listed in the table do not require additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. This guidance is endorsed by the Education Finance Council and the Student Loan Servicing Alliance. USA Funds supports the guidance provided by the student-lending community and will follow these recommendations.