T.H.E. is temporarily suspending our consolidation loan program due to adverse financial market conditions and legislative cuts. The combination of the financial market disruption and the legislative cuts effective October 2007 has significantly reduced our financial ability to fund these types of loans.

Our Smart Choices borrower education newsletter, launched last fall, is now available online on the T.H.E. Today main page. Focused on bringing you the latest borrower education tools and advice, the newsletter features:

While the new eligibility rules make Economic Hardship Deferment an option for more students this year, one change to the program is the loss of the debt-to-income ratio pathway (i.e., Condition 6) as of July 2009.

With graduation fast approaching, we want to remind you that the Economic Hardship Deferment program has new eligibility rules in place, allowing more students to qualify for the program.

Setting up a customized T.H.E. jump page for your school is a great way to simplify the loan application process for your students. Depending on your processing preferences, you determine which loan type(s) appear on the jump page.

Private loans are variable and change each quarter. From April 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008, T.H.E.’s three-month LIBOR index is 3.67%.

Our private loan rates are based on a spread of LIBOR rates plus an additional amount (defined in the borrower’s Truth-in-Lending Disclosure), according to the discipline of study. The interest rates for private loans are posted on our web site within the Rates/Savings sections of different loan programs and are updated each quarter to reflect the current interest rate.

Each spring, borrowers in repayment receive the T.H.E. privacy statement. This year, we included our announcement regarding the temporary T.H.E. Bonus suspension with the privacy statement mailing to keep students informed.