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Press Releases

PHEAA Board of Directors names James Preston as new President and CEO

Harrisburg, PA (March 20, 2008) - The Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) announced today that James Preston has been selected to serve as PHEAA's new President and CEO. Mr. Preston had been serving as interim President and CEO since October 11, 2007.

Preston's selection was presented to the PHEAA Board after recommendation by the Search Committee and approval by the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. The Search Committee was created specifically to conduct a thorough search and review of potential candidates, including face-to-face interviews, in order to select the best possible professional to manage PHEAA's complex business and public service operations.

Preston has 25 years of experience working in various investment banking positions at some of the world’s leading financial institutions, including L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, Bear Stearns and UBS PaineWebber in New York. He joined PHEAA as Executive Vice President of Client Relations and Loan Operations in April 2003. Preston received his MBA in Finance in 1977 from State University of New York at Albany.

"When we began our search for a new CEO five months ago, we knew we could depend on Jim to provide a steady hand to help us manage PHEAA during the transition", said Representative William Adolph, Chairman of the PHEAA Board of Directors. "What was unknown to us at the time was the true extent of Jim’s leadership abilities and management skills in dealing with the rapidly changing, market-driven forces that are reshaping the student aid industry today."

The national financial services industry, including the student loan sector, continues to be affected by the subprime mortgage meltdown and its resulting turmoil in the capital markets. This instability has driven-up PHEAA's costs of borrowing while restricting its access to the capital needed to make new student loans.

"Our decision would have been more difficult had Jim not been managing PHEAA so well during what is perhaps the most financially challenging period in its 44 year history," said Representative Jennifer Mann, Chairman of the Search Committee. "After careful evaluation of many candidates over the last several months, we realized that any other option would have been a compromise for Pennsylvania families that we were not willing to make."

"In a sense, Jim had what amounts to one of the world's most challenging 'on-the-job' job interviews," added Senator Sean Logan, Vice Chairman of the PHEAA Board of Directors. "He keeps us informed of the evolving capital market crisis relative to PHEAA and the student aid industry, seeking our guidance where appropriate, and has demonstrated a commitment to instituting the accountability and transparency throughout the agency that is so important to this Board and to the citizens of the Commonwealth."

In addition to administering a variety of state-funded student aid programs for the Commonwealth, PHEAA is a leading federal student loan guarantor and servicer through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), upon which 80 percent of today’s college students rely to pay for a postsecondary education. PHEAA has provided about $1 billion from its business earnings to help fund student aid programs in Pennsylvania over the last ten years, including grants, scholarships and low-cost student loans.