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FAP826: Deceptive student loan marketing, Sallie Mae leak

June 26th, 2008

FAP826: Deceptive student loan marketing, Sallie Mae leak

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Student Financial Aid News
+ The FTC has issued a guide on deceptive student loan marketing
+ If you are considering a private student loan, it’s important to know whom you’re doing business with and the terms of the loan. The FTC and ED offer these tips to help you recognize questionable claims and practices related to private student loans.
+ Some private lenders and their marketers use names, seals, logos, or other representations similar to those of government agencies to create the false or misleading impression that they are part of or affiliated with the federal government and its student loan programs. ED does not send advertisements or mailers, or otherwise solicit consumers to borrow money. If you receive a student loan solicitation, it is not from ED.
+ Don’t let promotions or incentives like gift cards, credit cards, and sweepstakes prizes divert you from assessing whether the key terms of the loan are reasonable.
+ Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you know with whom you are dealing. Private student lenders typically ask for your student account number — often your Social Security number (SSN) or Personal Identification Number (PIN) — saying they need it to help determine your eligibility. However, because scam artists who purport to be private student lenders can misuse this information, it is critical to provide it or other personal information only if you have confidence in the private student lender with whom you are dealing.
+ Check out the track record of particular private student lenders with your state Attorney General (www.naag.org), your local consumer protection agency (www.consumeraction.gov), and the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org).
+ The Student Loan Network does not engage in deceptive marketing tactics of any kind, mainly because we try to avoid screwing over our customers - word of mouth is powerful for positive talk about products and services, but absolutely deadly for negative talk about when you screw up
+ Inside Higher Ed: U.S. Education Department officials have spent weeks intensely reviewing the federal student loan program as part of their efforts to ensure continued access to loans for college students. Department officials formally unveiled more of the immediate fruits of those efforts Wednesday, laying out the terms under which the government will buy loans made by lenders who are unable to sell them to other investors. The terms described Wednesday are consistent with those the department unveiled in May, in a plan that was generally well-received by lenders. But perhaps the real news out of Wednesday’s announcement was that the agency’s review of the loan program — and the insights it has gained from discussions with Treasury Department officials and finance experts — have inspired its leaders to contemplate anew a broader reassessment of the entire federal student aid system, Under Secretary of Education Sara Martinez Tucker said in a telephone news conference Wednesday. Tucker said that the review would be consistent with the recommendations of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which called for a streamlining of the myriad programs and types of aid through which the government now finances students’ higher educations. There is an “opportunity to look at the entire federal student-aid system,” Tucker said.
+ Chronicle: Sallie Mae (ticker: SLM), the nation’s largest student-loan company, has a contractual arrangement with USA Funds, the nation’s largest guarantee agency, that gives the lender extensive financial and operational control over the guarantor that oversees its work, according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Chronicle.
+ The contract, a copy of which has also been posted on the Internet in recent days, shows a relationship that a former high-ranking Education Department official described as so intertwined and detrimental to the interests of students and taxpayers that the department should revisit its controversial 2004 decision to allow the partnership to continue.
+ Wikileaks has a copy and Sallie Mae is threatening legal action to take it down, so if you’d like to see it, grab it sooner rather than later

Scholarship Update
+ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Blu-ray are changing the way you watch movies! Be part of the ultimate in high definition by creating your own poster, ad or video for Blu-ray. Sony encourages you to design an original, exciting and passionate expression of why Blu-ray offers the best movie experience with its high definition, better than cable or satellite quality, better picture than DVD and pure hi-def audio! Come up with an incredible idea and incorporate the Blu-ray and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment logos as well as the tagline “Why Blu?” and you could win amazing Sony prizes including a Sony PlayStation 3 with built-in Blu-ray Disc Player and $250 cash or scholarship!
+ Grand Prize: One winner, selected by Sony from the top 50 highest-scoring entries, will win a Sony PlayStation 3 with a built in Blu-ray Disc player. Sony will also include a collection of 8 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray movies including Surf’s Up, Open Season, Across the Universe, Hitch, Fifth Element, Hellboy, A Knight’s Tale, 50 First Dates, and $250 cash or scholarship! (Total ARV: $889)
+ July 30 deadline
+ Create an original Blu-ray poster, ad or video expressing how Blu-ray is the best way to watch movies and incorporate the “Why Blu?” tagline. You may use any of the provided assets from the Blu-ray Art Kit in your creation. Don’t forget to include both the Blu-ray and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment logos!
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

JobCast
+ Got an inquiry yesterday about why the cover letter is important
+ “am looking for feedback from Boston-area hiring managers and recruiters on cover letters: How important are they in narrowing down a search? Do they help you weed through a stack of resumes to more quickly find the candidates who may be the best match? In your experience, do the cover letters really reflect on the qualifications and skills of the individuals? What do you look for in cover letters that has proven to help you select strong candidates? What else does your experience tell you about cover letters?”
+ A fine time to mention our free eBook, How to Write a Killer Cover Letter

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