Lenders, Guarantors Shut Out Of NSLDS

Abstract

Lenders and guarantors were surprised last evening when they unexpectedly lost access to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). They quickly learned that their access was temporarily suspended by the Secretary of Education. The abrupt shut-off comes only days after a Washington Post article reported that some lenders were misusing NSLDS data to obtain borrower information for marketing purposes and after Senator Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called on Secretary Spellings to suspend lender access and provide him with any documents held by the Department related to NSLDS security breaches. While the suspension of access is being called temporary, the Secretary gave no indication of when access would be returned to lenders and guarantors. Schools, students, and borrowers have retained access rights to NSLDS data.

Originally published in NASFAA’s Today’s News on 4/18/07.