Students wade through loan market with less help from administration
A list of Frishberg's financial records, as reported by the office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) shows that she had accepted more than $130,000 from a variety of consulting jobs with lending companies during her 18 years with Hopkins. The companies included SLX, Collegiate Funding Services, U.S. Department of Education, Campus Direct, American Express and Student Loan Processors Inc., among others.
The University found that Frishberg failed to disclose paid consulting work with American Express when it was listed as a preferred lender for the school, resulting in at least one other violation of the University's conflict of interest policy.
Frishberg had revealed some approved advisory committee work to the University in the past.
The Washington Post obtained an e-mail from Frishberg to a lending company called Campus Direct in March, which paid her over $13,000. In it, she mourned the new attention that was being paid to Financial Aid offices across the country, saying "This is no longer the fun and games we have come to know and love."
The investigation and agreement
In the agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, termed "Agreement on Code of Conduct," the University agreed to pay $562,000 to Cuomo's fund for educating students and families about the financial aid process. The University has said that it will give an equal amount to the cause of educating, benefiting and assisting Maryland high school students in the same process.
The University also agreed to adopt an extensive code of conduct, which requires annual training for financial aid officers, annual certification that they are adhering to the new Code of Conduct, disclosure of anything valuable that they receive from a student loan company and guidelines for providing a list of recommended lenders, among other requirements.
According to the agreement with the New York State Attorney General's office, the University chose to settle the investigation without admitting to a significant number of their alleged findings.
The University found that Frishberg failed to disclose paid consulting work with American Express when it was listed as a preferred lender for the school, resulting in at least one other violation of the University's conflict of interest policy.
Frishberg had revealed some approved advisory committee work to the University in the past.
The Washington Post obtained an e-mail from Frishberg to a lending company called Campus Direct in March, which paid her over $13,000. In it, she mourned the new attention that was being paid to Financial Aid offices across the country, saying "This is no longer the fun and games we have come to know and love."
The investigation and agreement
In the agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, termed "Agreement on Code of Conduct," the University agreed to pay $562,000 to Cuomo's fund for educating students and families about the financial aid process. The University has said that it will give an equal amount to the cause of educating, benefiting and assisting Maryland high school students in the same process.
The University also agreed to adopt an extensive code of conduct, which requires annual training for financial aid officers, annual certification that they are adhering to the new Code of Conduct, disclosure of anything valuable that they receive from a student loan company and guidelines for providing a list of recommended lenders, among other requirements.
According to the agreement with the New York State Attorney General's office, the University chose to settle the investigation without admitting to a significant number of their alleged findings.
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