Financial aid officers agree to new policies
Financial aid officers agree to new policies
In a joint news conference with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators President Dallas Martin admitted that conflicts of interest exist in the student-loan arena and adopted a new code of conduct pushed by Cuomo. "I was wrong," Martin said. "We didn't have all the facts."
Wells Fargo, New York state reach accord
Bloomberg News05/30/2007 03:26:54 AM PDT
Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's fifth-biggest bank by assets, became the latest lender to agree to a code of conduct for student loans, according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo, who's investigating the $85 billion student-loan industry, said Monday that with the addition of the San Francisco-based bank, the five largest U.S. student loan providers have adopted his code, which bans revenue-sharing with colleges, payments for steering students to "preferred lenders" and compensation to financial aid officers who serve on lender advisory boards.
"The message is clear — lenders large and small must adhere to best practices and help restore integrity to the student loan industry," Cuomo said.
Doreen Woo Ho, president of Wells Fargo Education Financial Services, said in a telephone interview that Wells Fargo sent Cuomo a letter saying "most of the items in the code have been longstanding practices" at the bank, and that it had its own policies in place that it believed addressed Cuomo's concerns.
"We don't disagree with the New York code but we did not sign the New York code of conduct," Woo Ho said. "We believe our own lending principles and marketing practices really represent the way we would like to do business."
Woo Ho said the Wells Fargo code is more extensive than the New York code. She said the company would no longer provide printing services related to student lending, such as loan comparison charts.
Jeffery Lerner, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the attorney general interpreted Wells Fargo's letter as saying they've agreed to abide by the code. "Wells Fargo has demonstrated that in the student lending industry, it's now a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom, by saying that they want to abide by the best practices embodied in our code of conduct."
Besides Wells Fargo, Cuomo said he has reached accords with SLM Corp., the biggest student lender, also known as Sallie Mae; Citigroup Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and Bank of America Corp., among other lenders.
Sallie Mae, Citibank, Education Finance Partners, a San Francisco-based lender, and New York-based CIT Group Inc. also agreed to contribute $9.5 million to educate students and their families about college loans.
full article and Video
financial aid, student loans, preferred lender, college, university, NYState district attorney, DA
In a joint news conference with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators President Dallas Martin admitted that conflicts of interest exist in the student-loan arena and adopted a new code of conduct pushed by Cuomo. "I was wrong," Martin said. "We didn't have all the facts."
Wells Fargo, New York state reach accord
Bloomberg News05/30/2007 03:26:54 AM PDT
Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's fifth-biggest bank by assets, became the latest lender to agree to a code of conduct for student loans, according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo, who's investigating the $85 billion student-loan industry, said Monday that with the addition of the San Francisco-based bank, the five largest U.S. student loan providers have adopted his code, which bans revenue-sharing with colleges, payments for steering students to "preferred lenders" and compensation to financial aid officers who serve on lender advisory boards.
"The message is clear — lenders large and small must adhere to best practices and help restore integrity to the student loan industry," Cuomo said.
Doreen Woo Ho, president of Wells Fargo Education Financial Services, said in a telephone interview that Wells Fargo sent Cuomo a letter saying "most of the items in the code have been longstanding practices" at the bank, and that it had its own policies in place that it believed addressed Cuomo's concerns.
"We don't disagree with the New York code but we did not sign the New York code of conduct," Woo Ho said. "We believe our own lending principles and marketing practices really represent the way we would like to do business."
Woo Ho said the Wells Fargo code is more extensive than the New York code. She said the company would no longer provide printing services related to student lending, such as loan comparison charts.
Jeffery Lerner, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the attorney general interpreted Wells Fargo's letter as saying they've agreed to abide by the code. "Wells Fargo has demonstrated that in the student lending industry, it's now a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom, by saying that they want to abide by the best practices embodied in our code of conduct."
Besides Wells Fargo, Cuomo said he has reached accords with SLM Corp., the biggest student lender, also known as Sallie Mae; Citigroup Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and Bank of America Corp., among other lenders.
Sallie Mae, Citibank, Education Finance Partners, a San Francisco-based lender, and New York-based CIT Group Inc. also agreed to contribute $9.5 million to educate students and their families about college loans.
full article and Video
financial aid, student loans, preferred lender, college, university, NYState district attorney, DA
Labels: college, DA, financial aid, NYState district attorney, preferred lender, student loans, university
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