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May 2008
Welcome to the May 2008 ISAC Update for lenders and servicers, which is a compilation of e-Messages sent through College Zone’s e-Messaging service throughout May. This e-Messaging service has replaced ISAC's use of printed newsletters and special e-mail lists as our primary means of communicating information to you. The articles in this Update have been organized according to the Lender Zone subscription groups to which the messages were distributed via College Zone’s e-Messaging service. Questions? Questions regarding information in this ISAC Update can be directed to Lender Services by sending an e-mail message to lenderservices@isac.org or calling 800.477.4411 and speaking with one of the following staff members:
On occasion, you may be directed to a specific contact person or area; when this occurs, we will provide the appropriate information in the individual article or message.
MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTION GROUPS ISAC System Changes to Accommodate New Loan Program Rules The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008, which was signed into law on May 7th, increases loan limits for unsubsidized Stafford loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008. ISAC's systems will be ready to accept and process requests for guaranty with these higher limits as of June 9, 2008. Loan requests for the new higher amounts submitted prior to June 9th will be held until the new limits are implemented on ISAC's system. Upon implementation of the new limits, held records will be processed and the results of the guaranty forwarded to partners via CommonLine. Details regarding the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 may be accessed via a May 7, 2008 update, located on the Federal Information page at collegezone.com. Extended Period of Enrollment As a result of the U.S. Department of Education's 2007 Negotiated Rulemaking process, loan periods (once limited to a maximum of 12 months) may now exceed 12 months. ISAC's system will be ready to accommodate this change for any requests for guaranty received on or after June 5, 2008. Partners submitting requests for guaranty on loans with loan periods of more than 12 months prior to ISAC's system being ready will see those loans rejected, and will need to resubmit the loan request after June 5th.
ED Releases Details of Plan to Ensure Access to Federal Student Loans The U.S. Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday, May 21st, issued a letter to Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) lenders from Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings outlining ED's plan for ensuring continued student and parent access to federal student loans. The letter outlines ED's four-step approach to meeting the current challenges faced by the student loan industry. The steps include:
We encourage all FFELP participants to take a few moments to review the letter to learn the details of the steps listed above. A link to the letter is available in collegezone.com's e-Library, #11, Federal Information through the Electronic Announcements link.
Workforce Reduction at ISAC As part of ongoing re-engineering and belt-tightening efforts at ISAC, a second workforce reduction is currently underway. This reduction is impacting fewer positions than the one which took place last fall, and is the result of efforts to streamline our operations to better serve students, families and taxpayers. ISAC remains focused on students and families of Illinois as they pursue their higher educational goals. We will continue to work toward fulfilling our mission of making college affordable for Illinois students.
ED Issues DCL on Preferred Lender Lists Included among the information contained in the DCL is direction to schools unable to identify at least three lenders to fulfill the preferred lender list requirement, a clarification of the number of lenders that must be unaffiliated on the list, and information about ED's willingness to take into consideration a school's lack of control over lenders on their preferred lender list that may decide to discontinue making loans to a school's students and parents. We encourage all FFELP participants to take a few moments to review DCL GEN-08-06, FP-08-06.
Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Important Dates Upcoming Commission Meeting The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission will take place on Friday, June 27, 2008, at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg. A listing of tentative agenda items will be available prior to the meeting via the ISAC's Governing Board: The Commission section of the e-Library. Dates and locations for all meetings scheduled in 2008 are available at the e-Library's Commission Meeting Schedule page. Agenda and meeting schedule information can also be accessed by selecting the link that appears beneath the "Resource Center" heading at the College Zone home page. Holiday Schedules A complete listing of 2008 holidays on which ISAC staff will be unavailable is provided at the ISAC Events Calendar. May 26th: Memorial Day July 4th: Independence Day In observance of the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays, ISAC offices will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2008, and on Friday, July 4, 2008, respectively. Our offices will reopen on the first business day following each holiday. Loan records received at ISAC on the holidays, as well as disbursement records received at the National Disbursement Network (NDN), will be processed the following business day. This means that, for holidays that fall on a Monday, CommonLine or Common Account Maintenance (CAM) files will be processed on the following Tuesday, with results available on Wednesday (or the next available day for any schools opting to receive NDN files on specific days of the week). For holidays falling on a Friday, CommonLine or CAM files will be processed on the following Monday, with results available on Tuesday (or the next available day for any schools opting to receive NDN files on specific days of the week). Note that ELM Resources will continue to process and transmit files on the holidays. For Assistance Remember that you can access collegezone.com anytime, or send an e-mail message to ISAC's Lender Services Department. With the exception of holidays (such as those indicated above), ISAC staff will review and respond to messages during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT).
Continued Access to Student Loans At the recent ILASFAA Annual Conference, ISAC Executive Director Andy Davis assured attendees that "ISAC will continue to serve the loan needs of our Illinois students". Although we no doubt have made that commitment to the financial aid community on many other occasions throughout our long partnership, this year it carried particular significance due to the environment of uncertainty about the availability of student loans. Andy made the commitment prior to the passage of H.R. 5715, and now with the bill's passage, ISAC continues to take steps to ensure uninterrupted access to FFELP loans for students and families in Illinois. One of the provisions in the H.R. 5715 involves the Lender-of-Last-Resort (LLR) Program and requires that ED designate guaranty agencies such as ISAC to act as lenders of last resort for schools unable to obtain a lender(s) to make loans to a significant number of its students. In addition to making preparations for ISAC to serve as an ultimate lender of last resort, we are working with our lending partners to respond to the ED directive that all guaranty agencies have an approved, up-to-date Lender-of-Last-Resort Program in place. The directive requires ISAC to survey lenders to identify those willing to serve as lenders of last resort for ISAC-guaranteed FFELP loans. Additional information about these topics is available in the e-Library of collegezone.com. An overview of H.R. 5715 can be found in the Federal Information section. Andy's complete remarks made at the 2008 ILASFAA Conference, along with the PowerPoint presentation for the ISAC Update, are available in the Presentations section under Conference Handouts & Presentations.
ISAC UPDATE Electronic ISAC Update for April 2008 Available at College Zone Topics covered in the April 2008 ISAC Update include:
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