Georgetown's Shares Best Practices on Perkins Collections

Thanks to Susan Coates, Assistant Director of University Loan Programs at Georgetown University for sharing this information.  Georgetown was recently featured in a post about schools achieving extremely low Perkins default rates.  Their 2006-07 cohort default rate for Perkins loans was 1.39%, which ranked in the top 10 for larger schools (over 500 borrowers entering repayment). 

Here is the Georgetown process:

• Georgetown University uses the electronic master promissory note and requires students to complete on-line loan entrance counseling each year they receive a Perkins Loan.  This provides the student borrower with the cumulative amount borrowed, reviews their rights and responsibilities, and reaffirms that Georgetown is the lender. 

• Prior to graduation, we require the student borrower to complete on-line Loan Exit Counseling which provides the student detailed repayment information, reviews their rights and responsibilities along with deferment and cancellation provisions, and again reaffirms that Georgetown is the lender. 
  
  • In order to ensure that the student borrower is aware of their loan obligation to Georgetown and to complete the Loan Exit Counseling, three notifications of the counseling requirement are sent to the student borrower. 
    

• Once the student borrower is in repayment, Georgetown is willing to work and be flexible, in accordance to federal regulations, with student borrowers who are having difficulty with repayment. 
  
  • We encourage the student borrower to contact our office for payment options. 
    

• Georgetown uses a loan servicer, which sends the required due diligence letters and 90 day telephone call.  
  • In the interim, Georgetown sends monthly delinquency letters for 60 days to 6 months. 
    

• Accounts are placed with an outside collection agency after 6 months of no activity, i.e. no contact or payment, and Georgetown feels that we have exhausted our efforts.  This has worked well for Georgetown.

Related posts: 

• Midwestern University shares best practices on minimizing Perkins and Stafford defaults
• Who's best at collecting on Perkins Loans?