The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, Inc. (NCHELP) represents a nationwide network of guaranty agencies, secondary markets, lenders, loan servicers, collectors, schools and other organizations that provide financial assistance to millions of American students and their families each year. Based in Washington, D.C., NCHELP advocates on behalf of its members on public policy and regulatory issues with the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. NCHELP members promote student access and choice for postsecondary education and training.

A key objective for NCHELP is to inform the public about the availability of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and private education loans as a method to ensure open access to postsecondary education. Postsecondary education institutions face significant operational challenges associated with providing financial assistance to their students each year. NCHELP is committed to helping its members and educational institutions achieve efficiencies through the work of the Electronic Standards Committee by facilitating and promoting a coordinated and proactive approach to electronic standardization efforts.

The FFEL Program is the nation’s largest source of financial aid for postsecondary education. Over the past 40 years, lenders have provided more than $600 billion in FFELP (formerly GSL) loans to more than 100 million students and their parents to help finance their training and college, graduate and professional education.

NCHELP remains committed to program integrity and improvement. Through the collective efforts of schools and our members, more and more borrowers are repaying their loans on time. Efforts have been intensified to counsel delinquent borrowers on their repayment obligations and options to prevent defaults. While default aversion is the primary goal, once borrowers default every attempt is made to get them back into repayment or to collect the outstanding debts using the latest technology and approved methods including wage garnishment, withholding of federal and state tax refunds, and litigation.

The Federal Family Education Loan Program has undergone enormous changes during the 1990's. New technology and standardization of forms and procedures have made the loan delivery system easier, faster and more efficient for students and schools. Recent program enhancements facilitated by NCHELP members include CommonLine (standard electronic file formats for use by lender, guarantors, and schools to process FFELP and alternative loans), the Common Manual (a policy manual for FFELP participants).

NCHELP's Board of Directors, Staff and members continue to work to meet the challenges associated with providing financial assistance to millions of American students each year.