KHEAA Update for Kentucky

June 2005

Affordability Study
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) have contracted with nationally-known educational research firm JBL Associates, Washington, D.C., to perform an analysis of the affordability of undergraduate postsecondary education in Kentucky. Affordability is being analyzed in terms of "net price" to undergraduate students with an analysis of federal, state, institutional aid (including tuition discounting), and student loans. Data collection from postsecondary institutions, KHEAA, and CPE was completed in May. Separate surveys are also planned for high school students and current and former college students (dropouts) to more sharply focus on the postsecondary education decision-making process and determine the extent to which financial considerations play a role in determining whether students initially enrolled in college immediately after high school and/or persisted in college.

TERP Participation
KHEAA is now a full participant in the Total Enrollment Reporting Process (TERP) with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). Lender and servicer partners will notice less redundancy in the processing of enrollment information and will be able to rely on a single source of enrollment information.

ZipDECISION for Parent Borrowers
Parents using a KHEAA Origination Services lender can now perform an immediate credit pre-approval online for PLUS Loans. ZipDECISION is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Student Aid Update
Disbursements
Through the period ending April 30, 2005, KHEAA had disbursed over $162 million in state student aid for the 2004-05 academic year—a 10.2 percent increase over the same period last year.

Interest Rates Reduced
The interest rate for conversion scholarship/loan programs was reduced from 12% to 6%, effective April 1. Participants in the following programs will benefit from this regulatory change:

Kentucky’s Affordable Prepaid Tuition (KAPT)
Through April, 121 KAPT beneficiaries had used $596,000 in KAPT benefits for the 2004-2005 academic year. KAPT expects approximately 150 KAPT beneficiaries to use benefits for the 2005-2006 academic year. The status of KAPT’s next enrollment period will be reviewed by the KHEAA Board of Directors in August.

Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust (KESPT) 2004 Calendar Year Performance Review
Through April, 1,222 qualified KESPT withdrawals (paying for college) were made for a total of $762,881. KESPT’s new six-band Managed Allocation Option showed steady market returns for the calendar year. New account prospects demonstrated solid growth with 1,418 new accounts opened in 2004—a 7 percent increase over the previous year.

Outreach
GoHigherKY.org
GoHigherKY.org, a central point of contact for all information about postsecondary education in Kentucky, continues to receive lots of hits—over 5.5 million from June 2004 when it went online through the end of April. Over 5,800 accounts have been opened and over 4,400 requests for additional information have been received.