A National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Conference is a mix of many things. Meetings, seminars, eating, socializing, vendor/donor visits, theorizing, sleep deprivation, and way too many other things to even remember. I attended the conference held in Orlando on July 7-9 as the Wisconsin State President. This was a wonderful experience. I had a special ribbon on my name badge. This may not sound like a lot but it meant a lot to me.
On Tuesday July 8th I was invited to a 7:00 AM breakfast with the other state and regional presidents. The breakfast had been a fixture at past NASFAA conferences but had not been held for several years. It was hosted by the new NASFAA CEO Dr. Phillip Day and NASFAA President Michael Bennett. This was a working breakfast. Dr. Day told us about a new NASFAA initiative “"National Conversation on Access and Aid for Student Success." Financial aid professionals must participate as leaders in all aspects of the decision making process involving financial aid. Decisions will be made with or without us. We can not be afraid to be part of the process.
After breakfast, it was right to the NASFAA business meeting. The business meeting is an annual event with many things happening. National awards are made in many categories. I was truly caught off guard when the State of Wisconsin was announced as a winner of the “State Award”. Wow! The State Awards are presented each year to state associations that submit projects to be evaluated by NASFAA's Awards Committee. The awards recognize individual state associations for outstanding projects that contribute to the financial aid profession. The association offering the winning project receives a banner to reside with the state association and a $500 prize check. Its hard to describe how proud I was to be representing WASFAA.
Here is what NASFAA had to say about our project.
“Service to the Financial Aid Profession: The Wisconsin associations "Student Employees in the Financial Aid Office: Capitalizing on our Resources" recognizes that many financial aid officers got their start in financial aid as work study students in the financial aid office. Member institutions were asked to offer a one-day registration to work study students in their office to attend the association's conference. The students had an opportunity to attend sessions which took them through some of the basics of financial aid, to hear some of the issues of concern to the profession, and to witness the camaraderie throughout the membership. The association realizes that this is an underutilized opportunity with great potential to encourage and educate work-study students, and to promote the financial aid profession as a career path, and to grow and secure the future of the financial aid profession. Our congratulations to the Wisconsin association!”
Sara Beth Holman submitted the project which was conducted at the fall 2007 WASFAA conference in the Dells.
So....that's what a NASFAA looks like! Lynne and I are wishing we were there "working", too!
ReplyDeleteNASFAA was in Orlando FL. In Disney World! It was the strangest place to have a conference. All around us was Micky Mouse. I like Micky, but if you let it, it could be a distraction. FA is serious stuff.
ReplyDeleteWow! Congratulations!! How proud you must have been Lloyd. Thank you Sarah Beth for submitting this project. It is great to see our organization recognized.
ReplyDeleteKudos to the President, the first president who actually had student loans. We hope the WASFAA will support this measure in opposition to the more self interest posture of the national organization NASFAA.
ReplyDeleteThe student loan industry is ripe with greed, arrogance, and corruption. The Sallie Mae CEO has taken nearly a half billion dollars personally as a middleman. He now owns three mansioned estates (annapolis, MD / Harwood, MD / Naples, FL), one with a private 18 hole golf course - although an old photo and the golf course is still under construction, you can see where taxpayer subsidy dollars go via Google Maps at coordinates 38°51'38.52"N, 76°40'4.47"W
Sallie Mae owns two private jets - they used to own three. The jets are tail numbered N50FD and N188AK.
You can see these jets at the following links:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Israel-IAI-1125A-Astra/0523432/L/
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Israel-IAI-1124-Westwind/0841982/M/
That is where the taxpayer subsidies are going, private golf courses and private jets.
When a FFELP loan defaults, the taxpayer pays nearly twice the amount of the loan. Sallie Mae is allowed to attach fees, penalties, and crank the interest rate up to above credit card rates. After a period, they capitalize those fees, penalties, and interests and put the loan to the taxpayer for payoff. So, a 20k loan becomes more than 40k cost to the taxpayer. In the direct program, the 40k might still be the receivable, but it does not effect cash flow as we see with the middlemen involved. Why are we funding this madness?
Let's not forget the corruption that the subsidies fund. The following student aid administrators got into more than a little hot water for taking kickbacks and other inducements from the student loan industry - most lost their jobs:
Ellen Frishberg - Johns Hopkins
Catherine Thomas - USC
David Charlow - Columbia
Lawrence Burt - University of Texas
Walter Cathie - Widener University
Tim Lehmann - Capella University
Daniel Pinch - Emerson College
In 2008, more than 100 Universities were under investigation for more than 90% of their FFELP loans going to one provider. The notion that there is competition in this "market" is ridiculous - the student loan companies pay or induce schools for preferred lender status resulting in nearly all loans at any one school going to one provider. In the above instances, those inducements were to the administrators themselves. From "School as Lender" to call centers to printing - the inducements to schools are great and the payoffs for the middlemen even greater.
Of course, some in congress receive so much cash from the student loan industry, they will try to derail this improvement. Particularly, Buck McKeon and John Boehner receive the most from the student loan industry. Buck and Boehner have been the champions of the industry for years and are responsible for much of the elimination of competition and stripping of consumer protections for student loans - all to the benefit of the middlemen lenders. There are no student loan companies in Buck or Boehner's districts and no meaningful employment by student lenders in those districts. This is pure pay for play.