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Lender Layoffs and Loan Program Suspensions

This page provides a list of education lenders who have laid off staff or temporarily suspended or permanently exited one or more student loan programs since August 2007. (Some of these lenders may have exited FFEL or private student loan programs for reasons unrelated to the subprime mortgage credit crisis or the cuts in FFELP lender subsidies.)

Last updated: November 8, 2008.

Lender Layoffs

The total job loss estimate for the student loan industry is more than 6,206 layoffs. This estimate understates the actual total due to several lender layoffs for which no total could be obtained.

Education lenders laying off staff (including attrition): 22 total

  • Bank of America
  • Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, Academic Finance Corporation
  • Campus Door
  • College Loan Corporation
  • CoreFirst Bank & Trust
  • Edamerica
  • Education Finance Partners
  • FinanSure
  • First Marblehead
  • Goal Financial
  • Illinois SAC
  • Loan to Learn
  • MOHELA
  • NELNET, Union Bank & Trust
  • National Education
  • NextStudent
  • PHEAA
  • Sallie Mae
  • Student Assistance Foundation of Montana
  • Student Loan Xpress
  • The Education Resources Institute (TERI)
  • US Education Finance Group

Loan Program Suspensions

A total of 168 education lenders have exited or suspended their participation in all or part of the federally-guaranteed student loan program (FFELP). 107 of the lenders have suspended participation in all of FFELP (2 only out of state, 2 in selected locations and/or types of colleges and 1 just first-time borrowers) and 61 have suspended just consolidation loans (for a total of 168 suspending consolidation loans).

37 lenders have suspended private student loans. (A total of 176 unduplicated lenders have suspended federal and/or private loan programs.) MEFA had suspended their private student loan but resumed it 6 weeks later.

These totals include 28 nonprofit state loan agencies. Four state loan agencies -- PHEAA, MEFA, MHESLA and Brazos -- have suspended all FFELP originations. NorthStar Guarantee had suspended all of FFELP, but has subsequently resumed making Stafford and PLUS loans but not consolidation loans. Brazos had suspended participation in FFELP, then resumed participation and then suspended participation in FFELP a second time. Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation had previously suspended Stafford and PLUS loans for first-time borrowers, but subsequently resumed making Stafford and PLUS loans (but not consolidation loans) to all borrowers.

Every type of lender has been affected: 28 state loan agencies, 71 banks, 18 credit unions, 4 non-profit lenders, 3 school-as-lender schools (with 45 more coming soon) and 55 non-bank lenders.

The following table summarizes the marketshare of lenders suspending one or more federal loan programs based on FY2006 and FY2007 federal loan volume data in the FFEL program. It does not include lenders who suspended participation and subsequently resumed participation.

Loan Program FY2006 FY2007
Stafford and PLUS Loans
(excluding School-as-Lender schools)
12.5%
$6.2 billion
> 740,000 borrowers
23 of the Top 100
12.2%
$6.9 billion
> 740,000 borrowers
26 of Top 100
Stafford and PLUS Loans
(including School-as-Lender schools)
15.8%
$7.8 billion
> 930,000 borrowers
33 of the Top 100
15.9%
$9.0 billion
> 970,000 borrowers
36 of Top 100
Consolidation Loans 92.0%
$66.5 billion
> 2.3 million borrowers
10 of Top 10
65 of Top 100
92.2%
$43.7 billion
> 1.5 million borrowers
10 of Top 10
68 of Top 100

Note that while there were more than 2,000 lenders participating in FFELP in FY06, most of the loan volume is originated by the top 100 lenders. The top 100 lenders accounted for 91.5% of FY2007 Stafford and PLUS loan origination volume and 90.8% of FY2006 Stafford and PLUS loan origination volume. The top 100 lenders accounted for 99.8% of FY2007 consolidation loan volume and 99.7% of FY2006 consolidation loan volume. The top 100 lenders accounted for 98.6% of FY2007 loan holdings and 98.5% of FY2006 loan holdings.

Most of the major lender partners of school as lender schools have ended their participation in the school as lender program, including Sallie Mae, Nelnet, PHEAA, CollegeInvest, Brazos and MHESLA, as well as six other lenders. The 45 affected schools are now looking for new lender partners, but are unlikely to find them. These schools originated $1.7 billion in Stafford loans to more than 200,000 borrowers in FY2006 (3.3% of loan volume) and include 10 of the top 100 Stafford and PLUS loan originators.

If school as lender schools are included in the totals, a grand total of 213 lenders have suspended participation in one or more FFEL loan programs.

Some of the smaller lenders who have exited the student loan programs have reported an inability to liquidate their education loan portfolios even after they have exited.

 
 
Lender Suspensions

The following table lists the lenders who have suspended one or more loan programs, with information about the types of loans they have suspended. It also includes rank information based on FY2006 and FY2007 federal loan volume data. Rank information is included only for lenders who have suspended one or more federal loan programs. If a lender has suspended only private loan programs, no rank information is included. The nonprofit state loan agencies are listed with the name of the state in brackets after the name.

Lender What? FY2006 Federal Rank FY2007 Federal Rank
Originations Consolidations Holdings Originations Consolidations Holdings
A+ Funds/Medfunds Graduate Level FFELP
Private
           
Abilene Teachers Federal Credit Union FFELP            
Academic Funding Group / Provincial Bank FFELP
Private
57     78    
Academic Financial Services FFELP            
Academic Loan Group FFELP   17 31   17 23
Access Credit Union FFELP            
Access Group Consolidation
Private
11 12 13 10 21 13
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education [Alaska] Consolidation   92 94   97 86
Affinity Direct/Educational Direct FFELP   19   45 4 84
ALL Student Loan Consolidation
FFELP Outside California
43 42 42 36 55 37
Amarillo National Bank FFELP            
American Education Services (AES) / PHEAA [Pennsylvania] FFELP 19 7 7 19 10 6
Ardent Financial FFELP            
Arizona Higher Education Loan Authority (AHELA) [Arizona] Consolidation     92     79
Arkansas Student Loan Authority (ASLA) [Arkansas] Consolidation 66 69 51 74 65 53
Axiom Student Loans Private            
Bank of America Private
Consolidation
3 28 16 3 42 16
Bank of Lake Mills FFELP 31   80 28   71
Bank of North Dakota Consolidation 65 59 49 65 82 51
Bank of Texas FFELP            
Bankers Trust FFELP            
Boeing Credit Union FFELP            
Brazos HESC [Texas]
Brazos Student Lending, Academic Finance Corporation, Educational Funding Services, Inc. and Acapita.
FFELP 23 9 4 26 19 4
Bremer Bank Private
Consolidation
           
Cadence Bank FFELP            
Campus Door Private            
Carnegie Student Loans FFELP            
Capitol Federal Savings, Kansas FFELP            
Capital One/Axiom FFELP            
Citi Student Loan Corporation Consolidation
Private Consolidation
2 3 2 2 7 2
Citizens Bank Consolidation 17 58 40 16 81 43
City Bank Texas FFELP            
College Board FFELP 25   73 25   78
College Foundation Inc. (CFNC) [North Carolina] Consolidation 18 27 21 17 40 19
College Guidance Center Consolidation            
College Funding Group Consolidation            
College Loan Corporation FFELP
Private
8 6 8 7 9 9
College Solutions Network FFELP 96 78   40 70 88
Collegiate Solutions FFELP   55 70   28 70
CollegeInvest [Colorado] Consolidation 45 48 38 42 34 39
Comerica Bank FFELP
Private
37   81 39 79 92
Commerce Bank Consolidation 32   59 34   64
Commercial Bank of Texas FFELP
Private
           
Connecticut Student Loan Foundation (CSLF/Susie Mae) [Connecticut] Consolidation   56     46  
CoreFirst Bank FFELP            
Cornhusker Bank FFELP            
COSTEP FFELP            
Credit Union of Texas FFELP            
Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union FFELP            
Deutsche Bank Trust Company FFELP            
EdAmerica [Tennessee] Consolidation 10   47 9 92 56
EdFed Consolidation            
EdSouth Consolidation   22 17   20 17
Education Credit Union FFELP            
Education Finance Partners Private
Private Consolidation
           
Erie Processing Self Service Corporation Consolidation   44     14  
F&M Bank and Trust Company FFELP            
Falcon International Bank FFELP            
Federal Association of Financial Services (FAFS) FFELP   50     73  
Federal Student Loan Solutions FFELP            
FinanSure FFELP
Private
  24 60   18 47
First Commercial Bank FFELP            
First Financial Bank, Eastland FFELP            
First Horizon Bank FFELP            
First Niagara Bank FFELP            
First Service Credit Union FFELP            
First United Bank FFELP            
FirstBank Southwest FFELP            
FirstMark Credit Union FFELP            
Franklin Bank, S.S.B Consolidation   81     44  
Freestone Credit Union FFELP            
Frost National Bank FFELP 73     66   98
GATE Student Loan Program Private            
GCO-ELF Consolidation   33 14   24 12
Goal Financial FFELP   5 10 64 13 11
Graduate Leverage Consolidation   14 48 54 11 44
The Graduate Loan Center Consolidation            
Happy State Bank FFELP            
HCSB, A State Banking Association FFELP            
Heights State Bank FFELP            
HELP Alternative Loans Private            
HERO Student Loans Consolidation            
Hondo National Bank FFELP            
HSBC Bank USA, NA FFELP 41 76 53 43 94 57
Hereford State Bank FFELP            
IEFC Private            
Independent Bankers Bank FFELP            
International Bank of Commerce FFELP            
Iowa Student Loan [Iowa] Consolidation
Private
  26 25   26 22
ISM Education Loans [Indiana] Consolidation 58 23 35 76 22 27
JPMorgan Chase Consolidation 7 20 11 4 5 8
K2 Student Loan Solutions FFELP   37 61   23 52
Kansas State Bank of Manhattan FFELP
Private
62     69    
Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation [Kentucky] Consolidation 20 41 30 21 43 26
Key Bank Consolidation
Private
           
Kleberg Bank FFELP            
Legacy Texas Bank FFELP            
Loan to Learn Private            
Loanster Financial Group LLC Consolidation            
M&I Bank Consolidation            
M&T Bank FFELP 40 97 91 38   91
MEFA [Massachusetts] FFELP 74 72 69 62 77 69
MHESAC [Montana] Consolidation   34 36   32 34
MHESLA [Michigan] FFELP
Private
  60 29   72 29
Mills County State Bank FFELP            
MyRichUncle FFELP
Private
           
MOHELA [Missouri] Consolidation
Private
  15 12   15 15
National Bank of Andrews FFELP            
National City Bank Consolidation 22 83 62 24 89 67
National Education FFELP
Private
26 31 18 27 50 48
National Student Loan Group LLC (NSL Direct) FFELP   61     69  
Neches Federal Credit Union FFELP            
NELNET, Union Bank & Trust Consolidation
Private
Private Consolidation
16 2 3 14 2 3
New Mexico Student Loans [New Mexico] Consolidation 46 43 46 49 57 46
NextGrad Consolidation            
NextStudent FFELP
Private Consolidation
100 4 45 59 3 31
NHHELCO [New Hampshire] Private
Consolidation
42 45 39 41 63 41
NorthStar/T.H.E. [Minnesota] Consolidation 13 21 15 11 45 14
Northwest Savings Bank FFELP for first-time borrowers   89        
NTHEA Consolidation   38 36   38 37
Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (OSLA) [Oklahoma] Consolidation   52 44   61 42
Omnis Student Loans Consolidation         80  
One Simple Loan Consolidation         29  
Panhandle Plains HEA Consolidation   39 33   51 25
PNC Bank Education Loan Center Consolidation 12 25 34 15 54 38
PlainsCapital Bank FFELP 81     91    
Red River Federal Credit Union FFELP            
Regions Bank Consolidation 34 62 43 18 86 50
Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) [Rhode Island] Consolidation 38 100 56 37 95 60
Sallie Mae Private (Recourse Loans Only)
Consolidation
Private Consolidation
1 1 1 1 1 1
San Antonio Federal Credit Union FFELP            
Security Bank of Kansas City FFELP            
Sovereign Bank FFELP 82 88 88 92    
Spokane Teachers Credit Union FFELP            
SAF-MT [Montana] FFELP outside Montana            
ScholarPoint FFELP
Private
  51     53  
School Loans Corp Consolidation   77     76  
South Carolina Student Loan Corporation Consolidation 21 29 22 23 37 20
StarTrust Federal Credit Union FFELP            
Student Capital Corporation FFELP            
Student Funding Services (Jacksonville, FL) Consolidation   82     56  
Student Loan Solutions, LLC Consolidation         39  
Student Loan Xpress FFELP
Private
15 8 9 12 6 10
Student Trust / ConsolidateYourLoans.com Consolidation            
SunTrust Education Loans FFELP (only in Texas)
Consolidation
14 11 19 13 30 18
Tarrant County Credit Union FFELP            
TCF Bank FFELP 44   98 44    
TD Banknorth FFELP
Private
           
Texas Bay Area Credit Union FFELP            
Texas Dow Employees Credit Union FFELP            
Texas Independent Bank FFELP            
Texas Rural Communities FFELP            
THE National Bank FFELP
Private
           
TierOne Bank FFELP            
Town and Country Bank Stephenville FFELP            
UHEAA Consolidation            
University Financial Services Inc. (UFS) Consolidation            
University of Miami FFELP 86     89    
Urban Ed Express FFELP
Private
           
Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) [Vermont] Consolidation