Syracuse University statement on New York State Attorney General’s Office investigation of college lending practices

Syracuse University statement on New York State Attorney General’s Office investigation of college lending practicesMarch 15, 2007Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

Syracuse University applauds Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to protect college students’ interests.

In early February, Syracuse University was one of dozens of educational institutions that received a multi-page request for information from the Attorney General’s Office. The University’s Office of Financial Aid prepared a response that was delivered to the Attorney General’s office last week.

We are in the process of reviewing Attorney General Cuomo’s press release and statements today and are not prepared to respond in detail at this time.

In brief, more than a decade ago Syracuse University, along with many higher education institutions across the country, implemented the practice of maintaining a recommended lender list as a service to our students to identify lenders committed to student lending and offering good products and services. This practice began at a time when there were thousands of different lenders at various levels of automation. This reality caused a tremendous amount of service delays-at a cost to the colleges and universities and their students. To help correct this problem, colleges and universities selected lenders who guaranteed a level of service and provided their names to students.

Syracuse University designates recommended lenders based on an annual evaluation of the loan terms and service provided by the lenders. Lenders are ranked based on a number of criteria by a committee; selection is based on merit. Designation as a recommended lender in one year does not guarantee selection in subsequent years; each lender must justify its selection each year based on performance. Students are not required to use any of the recommended lenders for their student loans, and in fact Syracuse students use many lenders other than those on the recommended list.