Expert answers to your specific questions
Now you have it—direct access to the experts at American Student Assistance®. Submit your question and we’ll e-mail you the answer, as well as post it on this page so that everyone can benefit from the information.
Read the latest Q&A
What is “Constitution Day”? Do schools have to celebrate it? And if so, why would the financial aid office be involved?
Because much of the federal funding for higher education institutions is student financial aid, many in the education financing community helped educators on their campus comply with the new law. To develop a Constitutional Day program, educators and/or the financial aid community can take advantage of online resources such as mapping-your-future.org. This website offers educational and programming materials to schools, federal agencies and other institutions nationwide to help them organize events to commemorate Constitution Day.
The U.S. Department of Education also issued 2 Federal Registers on Constitution Day:
- – Federal Register: May 24, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 99), www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2005-2/052405b.html
- – Federal Register: May 31, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 103) (correction notice), www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2005-2/053105b.html
If you have questions about complying with the Constitution Day requirements, contact your ASA client manager or regional account executive.
So many of my students are asking about loan consolidation these days. Exactly what is consolidation and what should I advise them to do?
When a borrower consolidates his student loans, his separate individual loans are paid off by the consolidating lender and one new loan is created. The terms for this new loan will generally range between 12 and 30 years, rather than the standard 10-year term on the borrower’s existing loans.
By having longer to pay the loan off, the borrower is allowed to make a lower monthly payment. Another advantage is that Federal Consolidation Loans currently have fixed interest rates, versus the variable rates of most other Federal Family Education Loans. By consolidating, the borrower ensures that for however long it takes to pay the loan off, the interest rate will never change.
However, the longer repayment term of a Consolidation Loan means the borrower will pay more in interest over the life of the loan. Borrowers are charged interest on the outstanding balance—so the longer they take to pay, the more they pay. Borrowers can counteract the longer repayment term/more interest combination by pre-paying or accelerating payment (there is no pre-payment penalty on federal student loans). Another potential drawback of consolidation is that the borrower may lose out on some repayment benefits or loan forgiveness options, since consolidation loans are not always eligible for these special programs.
Borrowers who have multiple loan payments and excessive loan debt are the ideal candidates for a Consolidation Loan. Also, if the total amount of a borrower’s monthly payments is more than his budget can allow, he should look to a Consolidation Loan for a lower monthly payment.
In most cases, an individual may only consolidate once, but a borrower may obtain a subsequent consolidation loan under the Direct Loan program if he or she wishes to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Borrowers should first discuss consolidation with their existing lenders. If their lender does not consolidate, they will most likely be able to recommend another lender. To ensure the student continues to receive the financial “Wellness” outreach and education services associated with the American Student Assistance guarantee, it is important that he choose a consolidation lender who will guarantee the consolidation loan with ASA.
Submit your question
* Indicates a required field.
Close Window
Nancy Jordan
Manager of Lender Partnerships
Biography
Nancy Jordan has 10 years of proven business and technical management experience in the higher education industry. As a manager of Strategic Lender Partnerships, she is responsible for analyzing new clients’ processes and providing solutions to fit their specific needs. Before joining ASA, Nancy spent several years working at Nellie Mae as their Technical Solutions Manager. In this capacity, she provided specialized training and consulting to clients and implemented successful technological solutions. Nancy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University. She currently belongs to MASFAA (Massachusetts) and EASFAA (Eastern).
Betsy Mayotte
Director of Privacy and Regulatory Compliance
Biography
Betsy Mayotte coordinates, facilitates and communicates the implementation of regulations and policies affecting ASA. Betsy brings 7 years of education financing experience to her current role. Most recently, she was an ASA Training Specialist, focusing on regulatory training for ASA’s partner schools, lenders, servicers and other FFELP colleagues, and assisting in organizing the annual ASA conference. In this capacity, she designed over 50 different presentations for both internal and external audiences, including Boston College, Northeastern University and The University of Hartford, and has spoken at conferences for NCHELP, CAPFAA (Connecticut) and ASA. An active NCHELP member, Betsy represents ASA on NCHELP’s Program Regulations Committee and the Common Manual Governing Board, a national group charged with interpretation of FFELP regulations and maintenance of the unified manual used nationally by all financial aid administrators. Betsy earned her BS in Business Communications from Bentley College in Massachusetts.
