Facts about Iowa Student Loan

• Iowa Student Loan is a private, nonprofit corporation whose mission since 1979 has been to help students and parents obtain the financial resources necessary for a postsecondary education. To date, Iowa Student Loan has helped more than 260,000 students pay for college.
• Based in West Des Moines, Iowa, with 370 employees, Iowa Student Loan is a significant Iowa financial services company, with $3.7 billion in student loans. The Governor of Iowa appoints its board. Iowa Student Loan is self-funded and self-capitalized; it has no shareholders and does not receive state appropriations.
• Iowa Student Loan is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is subject to strict regulation of its exempt purpose and use of funds. No funds may be used for the private benefit of any officer or director of the company.
• Iowa Student Loan has a significant economic impact in Iowa. Based on a 2007 Economic Impact Study, on an annual basis, Iowa Student Loan’s business activity:
  • Generates more than 2,400 Iowa jobs.
  • Stimulates an additional $237 million in annual consumer spending.
  • Increases personal income for Iowa residents by about $72 million.
  • Boosts Iowa’s goods and services production by about $134 million.
  • Causes the state’s income and sales tax collections to grow by about $2.3 million.
• Iowa Student Loan is highly regulated and rigorously audited by state and federal governments. In its governance, it is accountable to a publicly-appointed Board of Directors of educational, banking and public interest representation. This provides extensive levels of oversight, checks and balances that ensure Iowa Student Loan adheres to its mission and meets its obligations.

How Iowa Student Loan Operates

• Iowa Student Loan disburses and collects its own loans. It supplies Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans together with private lender partners.
• Iowa Student Loan also provides loan services to its counterpart in the State of Colorado, and to the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (ICSAC). ICSAC is the guarantor of FFELP loans in Iowa, with reinsurance by the federal government.
• Iowa Student Loan supports schools and students by providing innovative interactive solutions for their use as they apply for and process student loans. Iowa Student Loan reinvests its earnings in Iowans through vital programs targeted in the greatest areas of need. These include: forgivable loans to nurses and teachers who agree to work in Iowa; reduced rate federal student loans; private student loans with interest rate and credit subsidies; and the Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) that offers free help to high school students, parents and counselors.

Iowa Student Loan Products and Programs

• Iowa Student Loan offers a wealth of innovative products and services, developed specifically to best serve Iowa students and families, particularly those who would not otherwise be able to afford a college education. Iowa students can take advantage of Iowa Student Loan Borrower Benefits.
• Iowa Student Loan Nursing Education Loan Forgiveness Program, which offers loan forgiveness rebates totaling between $5,000 and $20,000 over a four-year period, was created to provide recruitment and retention incentives to reduce the shortage of nursing educators and nurses in Iowa. The Iowa Student Loan Teacher Education Loan Forgiveness Program is designed to aid recruitment and retention of teachers in state-designated shortage areas, with loan forgiveness up to $9,000.

Iowa Student Loan Reinvests in Iowans

• When Iowa Student Loan identifies resources beyond what is required to fund its reserves, it uses that money to offer programs vital to Iowa students and parents. Its Board of Directors works with policymakers and other leaders to identify the areas related to student loans that are of the most critical need in Iowa. Iowa Student Loan designs innovative programs to directly impact these areas. For Fiscal Year ‘07, these included the following:
  
  

  Interest-rate Reductions and Loan Fees Paid	$14,786,058
  College Planning Center Services	$2,036,956
  Support, Consulting and Financial Aid Information – Processing Services	$1,723,754
  Losses on Non-Guaranteed Loans	$14,884,289
  Current and Future Years of Loan Forgiveness for Teachers and Nurses	$18,000,000
  Average Reinvestment per each Iowa Student Loan Borrower	$171.50

ISL Service Corp.

• ISL Service Corp. is a wholly owned, taxable subsidiary of Iowa Student Loan. It was created to house Iowa Student Loan’s activities which might otherwise fall outside of its tax-exempt purpose, such as reselling the software it develops or providing loan services to other student loan providers in other states. ISL Service Corp.’s after-tax earnings go directly to Iowa Student Loan specifically to help the students that the company serves. No officers of Iowa Student Loan receive any compensation from ISL Service Corp.

What is the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (ICSAC), and how is it different from Iowa Student Loan?

• ICSAC is a state agency that is a political subdivision of the State of Iowa. Under state statute it administers the State’s scholarships and grants, performs research for the governor and legislature and serves as a guarantor of FFELP student loans. It also performs collections and other activities to help prevent defaults. In its FFELP guarantor role, ICSAC contracts with lenders to provide their student loan guarantees. Iowa Student Loan, by contrast, is a private, nonprofit corporation that receives no state appropriations. Iowa Student Loan raises funds through bond issues to finance student loans, and works with colleges and universities and financial institutions to make those loans available to Iowa students and their families.