Both Gloucester County College and Rowan University missed the deadline to reply to the state Attorney General’s subpoena as part of a statewide investigation into improper partnerships with colleges and student loan companies.

Only 32 of the 61 subpoenaed colleges subpoenaed responded by the May 20 deadline, according to Attorney General’s Office spokesman David Wald.

The two educational institutions in Gloucester County have until June 4 to submit the requested information about their student loan programs and will not face any penalties, Wald said.

Gloucester County College is continuing to gather the information, said spokeswoman Gina Redrow.

Rowan University spokesman Joe Cardona said the college mailed the information just a few days after the initial deadline.

“The extension was just to give us more time to collect the information internally,” Cardona said.

The subpoenas request information such as: The college’s preferred lender lists, explanations of how one gets on the preferred lender list, whether lenders offered anyone at the college compensation.

It also asks if any employees have stock options with the lenders, or if any financial aid employees serve on the lender’s advisory panel.

The attorney general’s office said it will compile the information into a database that could be used to assess what reforms may be necessary.

The New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA), the agency that oversees the state’s college financial aid programs, was also subpoenaed.

Cardona said Rowan University doesn’t have any direct contact with lenders, as it goes through the federal Direct Loan program.

For a period of about 8 months, the university used HESAA because it offered students lower rates, Cardona said.

But around February, Rowan switched back to the federal program because the rates were cheaper, Cardona said.

The attorney general’s investigation in New Jersey is similar to ongoing probes in nearly 40 other states that were prompted by the urging of New York Attorney Andrew Cuomo.

“We want to make sure the students in New Jersey get the best possible interest rates and the best possible deal and the process of getting student loans is not colored by some conflict,” Wald said.

The partnerships between university employees and lenders across the country has come under scrutiny in recent weeks.

Investigations have led some college financial aid directors to be fired, placed on leave, or resign, the Associated Press has reported.

An investigation at the University of Texas at Austin led the college to fire its financial aid director for owning stock in a loan company, according to the college’s System General Counsel Barry Burgdorf who investigated the allegations.

In Philadelphia, Drexel University reached an agreement with the New York attorney general that the university will refund student borrowers about $250,000 it received by steering students to Education Finance Partners.

Information from: www.nj.com/

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Friday, June 1, 2007 at 10:29 am and is filed under College Loans, Student Loan. Tags: College, Education News, Financial Aid, 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.