Financial Aid Directors Profiting Off Student Loans
March 29th, 2007
The New York Times is reporting today how a number of national four year universities are beginning to use private lending corporations to staff their financial aid telephone lines. This clearly leads to an inherent conflict of interest, because while an institution's students obviously want the best loans possible for their situation, the private lenders want to make the most profitable loan. These two interests do not always yield the same result when it comes to determining the conditions of a loan. For starters, as we've mentioned many times here at College Loan Cure, students should only pursue private loans after they have exhausted their supply of federal aid. Traditionally, interest payments are far smaller on government subsidized loans.
To make matters even worse in the case of private lenders posing as financial aid officers, these private loan employees do not identify themselves on the phone, and in fact some claim to be part of university staff. It is a sad day indeed when our institutions of higher learning fall victim to a vice as petty as greed. As if college wasn't expensive enough! So, for those of you reading, we here at College Loan Cure urge you when calling in for financial aid information, make sure you know who it is you're talking to, and don't let yourself be rushed into making a decision before you know all the facts. If you're ahead of the deadlines, there is no reason to jump into making a decision prior to discussing the terms with your family and others who can give you advice.