Cuomo Nails Student Financial Services

In the vacuum created by a universal lack of oversight from Bush Co. and CEO of ED, M. Spellings, Andrew Cuomo has rushed in to fill the void. Cuomo's latest target for student loan scams: Student Financial Services of Clearwater, Florida. And, of course, the universities named below. The NY Times has this:

. . . . The company paid athletic departments at institutions for the right to print their logos and other insignia on marketing material used to sell loans to students, Mr. Cuomo’s inquiry found. A typical payment might have been $15,000, according to Mr. Cuomo’s office. In some cases, the company paid an additional fee to colleges for each loan application received, it found.

The company also used lists of students provided by universities to solicit business, and sent its sales representatives to push loans at university events, the investigation found. In an effort to build business, the inquiry found, Student Financial took university employees on golf outings and out for meals.

The universities whose names and logos the company used included Central Michigan University, St. John’s University, the University of Kansas, the University of Oregon, the University of Washington and Wake Forest University, according to Mr. Cuomo’s office. Of the 63 universities, 17 have already suspended their arrangements with Student Financial, including Florida Atlantic University, Georgetown University and the University of New Orleans.

But in some cases, an intermediary company held the right to use a university’s name, logo or other insignia, and Student Financial had its arrangement with that intermediary rather than with the university itself. This was the case at the University of Kansas, said Jim Marchiony, the university’s associate athletics director. He said the university had not received a fee based on loan volume. . . .