DECEMBER 2003

Checklist Assists in Default-Prevention Efforts
Submitted by: The USA Funds Services SASFAA Team

Contact with students throughout their college experience plays a critical role in proactively preventing defaults. The financial-aid office is an important part of this process. By making frequent contact with students and involving other campus offices and resources, aid administrators can make a difference. Students who leave college with a better understanding of their responsibilities and options are less likely to default than those who do not have this exposure.

USA Funds®’ online Best Practices in Debt Management Manual offers the following checklist to help financial-aid administrators assess their in-school-period default-prevention efforts:

___ We have established a procedure to get debt-management information to students early in their college       experience.

___ Entrance- and exit-counseling procedures have been expanded beyond the minimum regulatory
      requirements.

___ We have established a diverse communication process using various types of communication tools.

___ We have developed or acquired the necessary communication tools.

___ We frequently communicate with our students regarding debt-management issues.

___ We target our debt-management messages to the specific needs of our students, with special attention to
      high-risk groups.

___ We offer workshops and/or classes to educate students about budgeting, borrowing and other financial-
      management topics.

___ We review our financial-aid-packaging policy to minimize student borrowing as much as possible.

___ Our private-loan policies minimize student borrowing.

___ We evaluate on-campus credit-card use and solicitation to discourage student application and use.

___ We have developed procedures and programs to help borrowers stay in school.

___ We review average student indebtedness by program to ensure that the starting salaries students can expect
      to receive following graduation are sufficient to permit our graduates to manage these average levels of
      education debt.

___ We examine our program offerings to ensure that there is a demand for our graduates in the job market.

___ We evaluate our job-placement services and potential enhancements to assist our graduates in gaining
      employment.

More suggestions and tools for helping students manage debt throughout the life cycle of their loans is available in the newly updated Best Practices in Debt Management Manual. To access the manual, go to www.usafunds.org/debt_management/best_practices_manual.htm on the USA Funds Web site.




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