Archie Raval

Report investigates lenders at colleges

A report released Tuesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., exposed some student loan lenders and institutions of higher education for engaging in exchanges of inappropriate donations and benefits.? As Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kennedy released the report providing details of inappropriate marketing practices in the student loan industry that had been previously discussed in Congressional hearings, media reports and inquiries, according to Kennedy's press secretary Melissa Wagoner. Wagoner explained that some lenders provided donations, services, private loan funds and other benefits to colleges in exchange for preferential treatment with regard to student loans, including placement on colleges' preferred-lender lists. "There have been ongoing investigations regarding marketing practices in the student loan industry, and it was decided by the senator that industry needs oversight," Wagoner said. In response to the report, Eric Solomon, spokesperson for Nelnet, an education planning and financing company that is one of the lenders accused of improper actions in the investigation, said Nelnet is complying with the new industry reforms.