Direct Loan Source Interviews
Nancy Hoover
The Direct Loan Source had the opportunity to sit down with Nancy Hoover, National Direct Student Loan Coalition Chair and Financial Aid Director at Denison University, to talk about the Coalition's experience in helping schools transition to the Direct Loan Program.
DL Source: To start, could you explain the purpose of the Coalition and your role?
Nancy: The National Direct Student Loan Coalition (NDSLC) is comprised of schools dedicated to the continuous improvement and strengthening of the Direct Loan Program. The members of the Coalition are financial aid professionals working at participating institutions.
The mission of the NDSLC is to promote the success of the Federal Direct Loan Program in serving the interests of students, families, taxpayers, and institutions. The goals of the NDSLC are:
- To advocate high standards in the delivery of the student loan funds by all participants in the process
- To provide an effective communication network among schools participating in the Direct Lending program for information sharing that improves program administration
- To educate public officials, the Department of Education, and financial aid community, and the general public about the issues impacting the program
During the past year our members have devoted significant time and effort to assisting colleagues transitioning to Direct Lending. The role of the Chair is to listen to the concerns expressed by the schools participating in the program, and work with the executive council members and staff at FSA to find solutions and/or make improvements.
Direct Loan Source: In terms of the transition to 100% Direct Loans, what has your organization done to provide support to schools in transition?
Nancy: We have provided assistance though our mentoring program, the Coalition Web site and our Direct Loan List Serv. Through our mentoring program, staff at schools currently participating in the Direct Loan Program have worked with more than 1,000 schools making the transition to DL. Using conference calls and site visits, our mentors have helped schools make the transition by providing advice and guidance on all aspects of the administration of the program from informing colleagues on their campus about the new loan delivery process to setting up their system and delivering funds to students. In addition our mentors have made presentations at numerous state, regional, and national conferences for financial aid and college business officers about the Direct Loan Program.
The NDSLC also redesigned its Web site to provide the following resources to help schools making the transition to Direct Lending:
- Instructions about the set up process with federal systems
- Our mentor list
- Samples of consumer information from different schools to help the schools making the transition communicate with their students and parents
- Instructions about the process to subscribe to various list serves provided by software vendors
- Information about training opportunities
- Announcements from the Department of Education about training and clarification of the regulations for the program
The Coalition also maintains a list serv which allows Direct Loan schools to ask questions and get responses and advice from colleagues on any process related to the administration of the program.
Direct Loan Source: After working with many schools coming into Direct Loans, do you have a sense of what the top 3 concerns are for new schools?
Nancy:
- How to process DL in their respective systems used for loan processing
- Reconciliation of the loans and closing out the year
- Currently there are some operational questions as schools implement the various aspects of the program. Topics include importing records from COD, entrance counseling, and the new PLUS process.
These concerns are all being resolved with assistance from FSA and the Coalition mentors.
Direct Loan Source: Based on what you've heard from schools, have they indicated the need for additional staffing to support Direct Loans?
Nancy: My loan processor and I have personally been in contact with over 100 schools making the transition to DL and not one of these schools has indicated they needed additional staffing to support Direct Loans. In fact, they are realizing that they can move some staff required for FFEL processing to other areas of financial aid processing.
Direct Loan Source: In relation to schools with one or two staff members, have you had contact from these schools and if so, are there any issues to report?
Nancy:I have talked with several schools that have one or two staff members and after I explain that the DL process is similar to Pell Grant, or ACG or SMART processing but with a promissory note, they are much less anxious about the process. I have had some of the schools report that the process is much better than they expected and the transition has not been that bad. Also, these schools were very impressed with and appreciative of the individual attention they received from the Department of Education's on-boarding team for DL.