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EdFinancial Services is a financial company which provides student loans servicing for 15 of the top 100 lenders in the USA, including regional and national banks, secondary markets, state agencies and other student loan providers. It is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1988, CEO William A. Hollin (known as Tony Hollin) launched Educational Funding of the South, going by the name Edsouth, the precursor to EdFinancial Services, in Knoxville. With the backing of local underwriters, Hollin spent six years steadily building the company, going bank to bank buying student loans.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, Edsouth provided student loans mostly in the southeastern US, and had an income of over $150 million.
Instead of marketing predominantly to students like some of its competitors, it used a business-to-business strategy and communicated directly with financial aid administrators. The strategy worked, with a 70% annual growth rate over a five-year period, and an increase from $3 million to $35 million in annual revenue.
In 2002, the company launched eCampusTours.com, which purportedly claims to "allow students to search online for colleges"[ ambiguous ]. The website featured 360° by 360°[ ambiguous ] virtual college tours of more than 11,000 college campuses[ ambiguous ], allowing students to see campus life through IPIX virtual tours.[ ambiguous ]
In 2012, Edfinancial was awarded a contract by the US Dept. of Education to service student loans made under the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. [1]
A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest rate may be substantially lower and the repayment schedule may be deferred while the student is still in school. It also differs in many countries in the strict laws regulating renegotiating and bankruptcy. This article highlights the differences of the student loan system in several major countries.
ITT Technical Institute was a private for-profit technical institute with its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana and many campuses throughout the United States. Founded in 1969 and growing to 130 campuses in 38 states of the United States, ITT Tech was one of the largest for-profit educators in the US before it closed in 2016.
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree levels. It is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has an open enrollment admissions policy for many undergraduate programs. The school is currently owned by Apollo Global Management and Vistria Group, two US private-equity firms, but is in the process of being sold.
Kaplan, Inc. is an international educational services company that provides education and training services to colleges, universities, businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, the company offers a variety of test preparation, professional training, career development, language training, university and student support services. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company.
The Art Institutes (AI) are a collection of independently operated art schools in the United States. Since 2019, the schools have been owned by Education Principle Foundation, a non-profit that also owns South University. The Art Institutes offer programs at the certificate, associate's, bachelors, and master's levels. The Art Institutes have faced accreditation and legal issues and student loan debtors have appealed to the US Department of Education for debt cancellation through defense to repayment claims. These efforts are premised on allegations they were defrauded. The student debt group "I Am Ai" has acted as a support group for students and former students of the Art Institutes, offering advice about debt cancellation.
American InterContinental University (AIU) is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. It employs open admissions and is owned by Perdoceo Education Corporation. American InterContinental University is a member of the American InterContinental University System. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to award associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees.
In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the International ISCED 2011 scale. It is delivered at 4,360 Title IV degree-granting institutions, known as colleges or universities. These may be public or private universities, research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. US higher education is loosely regulated by the government and by several third-party organizations. Attending college has been thought of as "a rite of passage" to which the American Dream is deeply embedded.
Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. There is no association between Berkeley College and The University of California, Berkeley.
Argosy University was a system of for-profit colleges owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC and Education Management Corporation.
Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest provider of student financial aid in the United States. Federal Student Aid provides student financial assistance in the form of grants, loans, and work-study funds. FSA is a Performance-Based Organization, and was the first PBO to be established in the US government.
South University is a private university with its main campus and online operations in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1899, South University consists of its School of Pharmacy, College of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Professions, College of Business, College of Theology, and College of Arts and Sciences. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. South University is owned by Education Principle Foundation, a non-profit which also owns the Art Institutes.
In the United States, student loans are a form of financial aid intended to help students access higher education. In 2018, 70 percent of higher education graduates had used loans to cover some or all of their expenses. With notable exceptions, student loans must be repaid, in contrast to other forms of financial aid such as scholarships, which are not repaid, and grants, which rarely have to be repaid. Student loans may be discharged through bankruptcy, but this is difficult.
Nelnet, Inc., is a United States-based conglomerate that deals in the administration and repayment of student loans and education financial services. The company is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, an online bank that offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.
Student debt is a form of debt that is owed by an attending, formerly withdrawn, or graduated student to a lending institution, or to a financial institution.
Fortis College is a Private for-profit college with multiple campuses throughout the United States. It was established in 2008 and is operated by Education Affiliates and owned by JLL Partners.
SoFi Technologies, Inc. is an American online personal finance company and online bank. Based in San Francisco, SoFi provides financial products including student and auto loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit card, investing, and banking through both mobile app and desktop interfaces.
For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions, but commercialization has been a part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has also been increasing since at least the 1980s.
Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) is a United States nonprofit corporation based in Minnesota. Since 1994, ECMC has operated in the areas of student loan bankruptcy management and loan collection. ECMC is one of a number of guaranty agencies that oversee student loans for the United States Department of Education. As a guarantor working on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, ECMC charges fees to debtors and earns commissions from taxpayers by collecting on defaulted student loans pursuant to the Higher Education Act. In return, the U.S. government has retrieved billions of dollars from student loan debtors. From 1994 to 2015, according to ECMC, they returned $4.3 billion to the U.S. Treasury.
Purdue University Global, Inc, formerly Kaplan University, is a public online university that operates as a public-benefit corporation, and is part of the Purdue University system. Its former profit owner, Graham Holdings Company, is entitled to receive 12.5% of Purdue Global's operating revenue.