USA Funds Services Representative Cites Communication as Most-Important Service

Nina Flood is the face of USA Funds^® to schools throughout New England, and she identifies communication as the most-important service that she provides to her customers.

“I am truly there for them, to find out what’s working well, what’s not working so well and to provide responsive answers for their FFELP issues,” Flood says.

Flood recently was named USA Funds Services representative of the year, and also was promoted to region executive for a territory that includes the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. USA Funds is not the designated guarantor in any of the states in the region, but Flood finds competition between guarantors in those states beneficial to both the competitors and their customers.

“I think we improve each other’s ‘game,’ and that translates into better service for the financial-aid offices, students and parents we serve,” Flood says.

She also believes that USA Funds offers the best package of services to meet the needs of the education-loan marketplace in the face of the dramatic changes in the Federal Family Education Loan Program. “Our customers care about services like financial literacy and debt management, as well as programs, like 2Futuro and scholarships, that promote access to higher education,” Flood reports. “USA Funds is perfectly positioned to meet those needs.”

At the same time, Flood notes that each school is unique. “A community college will care about reducing its default rate and improving student retention, while a graduate school wants support to educate borrowers about not getting too deep into debt. No two schools are alike,” she says.

Flood also credits other members of the USA Funds team with her success in serving schools. “We have the best people in the industry,” she says. “I work with the best technical consultant in the world, Ia Hagan. The USA Funds policy staff and their resource, askpolicy@usafunds.org, are outstanding. Our debt-management team, there is nothing like it. No other guarantor offers such a team that is devoted solely to debt management.”

Flood also sees her previous experience in the campus financial-aid office as a big plus. “The people who are most successful in this field have seen the other side of the financial-aid counter,” Flood says. “They understand the pressures and challenges that aid administrators face.”

Flood joined USA Funds’ former parent company, USA Group, in 1999. She previously had worked for BankBoston/Fleet (now Bank of America), as assistant director of financial aid at Brandeis University, and also in the financial-aid office at Boston University. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and received a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University.

“I love what I do. I believe in the organization and its products, and what USA Funds does to help people make higher education possible.”