Press Releases
PHEAA & American Education Services’ Code of Ethics Sets New Industry Standard
Urges all student loan lenders to adopt similar code
Harrisburg, PA (April 20, 2007) - The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), the nation’s largest not-for-profit student aid provider, announced today that it has adopted an Education Lending Code of Ethics and is urging the entire industry to follow suit as part of an effort to ensure integrity and confidence in the federal student loan program (see attached). PHEAA does business nationally as American Education Services (AES).
The Code of Ethics formalizes longstanding policies and practices that have helped PHEAA’s public service mission to always stay focused, first and foremost, on the students’ best interests in all business dealings.
“By and large, financial aid administrators are an amazingly dedicated group of professionals who work tirelessly to help students affordably finance their educations,” said Dick Willey, PHEAA’s President and CEO. “Borrowers need to understand all of the relevant information before picking a lender and they should know that the best advice will come from a school financial aid administrator - - including a recommended list of lenders who have been selected because they offer the best student loan products and services to the student.”
Two months ago, Dick Willey, stated that as a not-for-profit, public entity, “PHEAA must hold itself to a higher standard than our competitors. By working smarter and with more integrity, we will achieve a higher level of business success without the need to engage in inappropriate business activities or even give the appearance of inappropriate activities.”
“There’s no question that the entire industry has gotten a black eye that the overwhelming majority of lending and school participants don’t deserve and we want to take a leadership role in restoring the public’s trust in what we do,” said Willey. “As a not-for-profit, we have a mandate to put the student first and we will always strive to do so. This Code of Ethics is designed to help us move forward with clarity and conviction.”
As recent allegations continue to undermine the public’s confidence in the federal student loan program, PHEAA believes that not-for-profits occupy a unique middle-ground that is faithfully aligned to Congress’ intent when the program was created in 1965. By competing fairly and efficiently in an open marketplace, PHEAA and similar organizations earn money that is used to fund grants, scholarships and discounted student loans for millions of families while saving tax dollars that would otherwise be needed to fund those programs.
PHEAA is providing $200 million in free programs and services for Pennsylvania families in the current year and has provided more than $1 billion to fund grants, scholarships, loan forgiveness and other programs over the last ten years. No other organization in America has generated more money to help more students than PHEAA without using one penny of taxpayer resources.
Recently, PHEAA’s Board of Directors adopted the industry’s most accountable and transparent travel and business expense reimbursement policy that is stricter than IRS regulations and tougher than those governing any other Pennsylvania government entity.
Willey notes, “We must set high standards for ourselves while finding creative and innovative ways to meet our goals and the expectations of our students and families.”