LOAN PURCHASE PROGRAMS ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT #68

Date:July31, 2009 (Updated August 14, 2009)

To:FFEL Program Community

From:James Manning, Deputy Chief Operating Officer

Federal Student Aid

Subject: New Federal Student Loan Servicers and Updates to Loan Conversion Transfer and Imaging Transfer Files

In an Electronic Announcement posted to IFAP on June 17, 2009, we announced that four companies were awarded contracts to service student loans held by the Department of Education, including loans sold to the Department through the Loan Purchase Programs authorized under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA). The four new servicers are:

  • AES/PHEAA of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Great Lakes Education Loan Services, Inc., of Madison, Wisconsin
  • Nelnet, Inc., of Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Sallie Mae Corporation of Reston, Virginia

Servicer and Guaranty Agency Codes

The following are the Servicer and Guaranty Agency[1] codes that have been assigned to the Department’s new servicers:

Servicer Name:DEPT OF ED/PHEAA

Servicer Code: 700579

GA Code:579

Servicer Name: DEPT OF ED/GREAT LAKES

Servicer Code: 700581

GA Code:581

ServicerName:DEPT OF ED/NELNET

Servicer Code: 700580

GA Code:580

Servicer Name:DEPT OF ED/SALLIE MAE

Servicer Code: 700578

GA Code:578

As a result of the addition of these four new servicers, loan holders submitting 45-Day Notices after July 26, 2009 will be notified which Department servicer has been assignedto process the loan sale.

Submission of 45-Day Notices

When submitting a 45-Day Notice, Sellers must only include loans currently serviced by a single entity. However, Sellers are allowed to submit multiple 45-Day Notices on the same day and for the same sale date for loans that are currently serviced by different organizations.

Changes to Loan Sale File Layouts

Attached to this announcement are updates to the Loan Conversion Transfer File (updated August 14, 2009) , a summary of the Changes to Loan Conversion Transfer File (updated August 14, 2009)and the Imaging Transfer File for loans to be sold to the Department and subsequently serviced by one of the four new loan servicers. The new file formats will be used by all four of the new servicers listed above. The file formats currently in use will continue to be used for loans that will be serviced by the Department’s initial ECASLA servicer, ACSInc. ACS Inc.will not be using the new file formats. During this transition to the new servicers, your loan sale may be assigned to ACS and you would be required to submit the Loan Conversion Transfer File in their existing format. However, once you have been assigned to the new servicers, you will only use the new file format and will no longer be required to submit the Loan Conversion Transfer File under the old format used by ACS.

Also,updated Questions and Answers (Q&As) regarding the process and specifics of the changed layouts are available on the 2008-2009 Loan Purchase Program Q&A page (updated August 14, 2009) and the 2009-2010 Loan Purchase Program Q&A page updated August 14, 2009). We will continue to update these Q&A pages as more information is available.

If you believe that there are additional questions and answers that should be included, please email them to . Mike can also be contacted via phone at 202-377-3624.

Attachments:

Loan Conversion Transfer File (Updated August 14, 2009)

Changes to Loan Conversion Transfer File (Updated August 14, 2009)

Imaging Transfer File

2008-2009 Loan Purchase Program Q&A page

2009-2010 Loan Purchase Program Q&A page

[1] While FFEL loans sold to and held by the Department no longer are the responsibility of the original guaranty agency, this Department-specific code is needed for NSLDS and other reporting purposes.