Meteor Offers Enhanced Support to Students, Borrowers and Schools

The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs on April 15 launched version 3.3 of the Meteor Project software.

The Meteor Project is a collaborative student loan industry effort coordinated through NCHELP to retrieve and aggregate student financial aid information for financial aid professionals and borrowers. As part of this initiative, the Meteor Project created Meteor — an open-source, freely available software application.

Meteor version 3.3 includes the following enhancements:

• Access to the National Student Clearinghouse’s LoanLocator service. LoanLocator information allows users to link directly to a non-Meteor loan holder’s Web site.
• Security features. Added security measures enhance participants’ data privacy and the security of the user authentication process.
• Usability and navigation. Based on student and school user group feedback, the latest Meteor version provides users easier navigation through the screens, and added messages to help users in interpreting the data provided. 

USA Funds^® has supported Meteor since its inception and has incorporated the technology into many of its electronic products, such as USA Funds Connection^®, USA Funds Loan Counselor^® and USA Funds Loan Payment Solutions. Meteor also is accessible through OpenNet, one of the Web loan delivery systems supported by USA Funds.

In addition, Brian Allison, USA Funds vice president of technology and industry initiatives, is a member of the Meteor Steering Committee. The committee provides strategic direction for the Meteor Project, and provides guidance to the NCHELP board of directors and staff and the Meteor advisory team.