Sorry for the absence in posting. It's been super crazy in our office. In addition to the regular routine, our director retired at the end of September, which means I've been much more involved in administrative duties and working some late nights.
My secretary scanned some pages of a book and sent the mini-article to our middle- and upper-management. I set the email and attachment aside to look at later, but it wasn't long before our interim director was in my office asking if I'd read the file, which of course prompted me to look. I'm glad I did, because I am appalled at what I read regarding students who take a Stafford Loan through the Family Federal Education Loan Program (have to select a bank). My article does not apply to students taking loans through Direct Lending.
I will not divulge the name or author of the book (published in 2008) becuase what this person wrote is ludicrous. The first statement of a certain chapter says not to trust your financial aid office, and that your financial aid officer doesn't care about you at all when it comes to awarding student loans. The author goes on to say that financial aid offices prompt students to select lenders that provide financial kickbacks to schools. What?!!!
Let me tell you the truth. We do care. Financial aid offices do not take kickbacks from lenders. My college is one that used to assign a lender to the student automatically, but I can assure you that we and any other college only selected lenders who charged the lowest fees to students and had the best customer service. And why did we do that? Because students are inundated with junk mail from lenders offering student loans, which is overwhelming. I know this for a fact because we had two children in college and even I was confused with all the promises they received from banks. Colleges that practiced assigning a lender didn't do so because they were getting kickbacks, but rather to help the student choose a lender that was best for the student. This practice was terminated over a year ago because of people like this author who alleged charges without doing their homework.
So what was the fallout? Beginning last year, colleges can offer a preferred lender list but can no longer assign a specific lender to the student. Instead of your financial aid office selecting the lender who offers the lowest fees and best customer service, you now have to do your research to determine which lender you want. The author also tells readers in the article to read the fine print because financial aid people won't help. I totally agree that you need to read the fine print. Most financial aid offices don't have the staff to personally pull in every student for one-on-one counselling on student loans. However, web tools are available, counseling requirements are in place, and financial aid offices provide information on student loans so students can read and be well-informed about the student loan program. And I guarantee that your financial aid counselor will be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.
Bottom line--if you read any drivel like what this author wrote, don't believe it. In fact, if you do read anything like this, bring it to your financial aid counselor's attention. It's only fair that your counselor have a chance to tell you the truth!