Fitch Ratings said today that consistent increases in tuition costs and enrollment levels have combined to produce substantial growth in the U.S. student loan industry over the last decade. Moreover, participants in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) have benefited from this trend, but private education loan providers have experienced even greater growth, as student borrowers increasingly seek private loans to fund the growing gap between federal aid and college expenses.

But, encompassing much of these trends is the continued politically charged process, as educational funding reform takes up debate following the 2007 Republican-to-Democrat power shift in Congress.

What this all means for the student loan process is the subject of a Fitch Report ‘An Education in Student Lending,’ released today, and also the subject of an upcoming Teleconference on the issue, titled ‘Examining The Student Loan Industry,’ which takes place this Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007 at 10 a.m. ET. (Details below).

Fitch will examine the industry in light of recent growth trends and take a closer look at the student lending process, legislation, loan types, and industry economics. In addition, the teleconference and report will explore the roles of the major participants in the student lending process.

From Fitch’s perspective, key rating issues include:

* Legislative risk inherent in the industry;
* Growth in private education loans and the associated credit risks; and
* Student loan funding diversity and necessary credit enhancement levels.

Teleconference Participants (North America): +1-877-241-2557
Teleconference Participants (International): +1-706-643-7396
Conference ID: ‘8396909′
Conference Leader: Meghan Crowe
Listen on the Web: http://audioevent.mshow.com/322846

A Call Replay will be available one hour after the call concludes and will be archived for two weeks. To listen to the Replay:

US Replay: +1-800-642-1687

International Replay: +1-706-645-9291

Web Replay: http://audioevent.mshow.com/322846

A copy of the Special Report, ‘An Education in Student Lending’ is now available on the Fitch web site at www.fitchratings.com.

Fitch’s rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency’s public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch’s code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the ‘Code of Conduct’ section of this site.

Contact:

Fitch Ratings, New York
Meghan Crowe, CFA, +1-212-908-9121
Christopher D. Wolfe, +1-212-908-0771
Claire J. Mezzanotte, +1-212-908-0503
Andrea L. Murad, +1-212-908-0896
Kenneth Reed, +1-212-908-0540 (Media Relations)

Source: Fitch Ratings

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 6:35 am and is filed under Education News, Student Loan. Tags: College, Education News, Loans, Student, Student Loan, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.