Brazos Says Not Enough Time To Implement ECASLA

First they were out, and then they were in. Now they’re back out. Yesterday Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, Inc., the fourth largest holder of guaranteed student loans and the largest nonprofit student loan provider, signaled another shift in policy by announcing that it would once again suspend participation in the federal loan programs. 

"Time constraints caused by the short window between receiving final program documents and the deadlines to disburse loans have left us with no confidence that we can get money to students as soon as needed," said Murray Watson, president and CEO of Brazos in a press statement released yesterday. "We have simply run out of time to secure financing to disburse loans as soon as they are needed."

In February the company fired 163 employees. At least 4,323 people have lost jobs in student loan industry since August, 2007, according to Finaid.org.

In another sign of instability in the loan markets, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) said yesterday that it too will not be able to provide any students with loans this fall.

The full article was originally published in NASFAA’s Today’s News.