A Trip to Lender List Nirvana? Nope, Just Out of Date Lender Lists

I thought I entered a time warp today.  While reviewing school lender lists, I came across the following benefits for Stafford loans:

Lender 1:

• No Origination Fee
• No Default Fee
• 0.25% interest rate reduction with automatic withdrawal option
• 3.00% in principal reductions when making on-time payments during the first 36 months in repayment (A.  1.00% principal reduction is applied to the loan for each 12-month on-time payment cycle)

Lender 2: 

• 1.00% interest rate reduction for graduation at repayment
• 0.25% interest rate reduction for auto-debit
• 1.00% rebate after first 12 on-time payments
• 1.00% rebate after next 12 on-time payments
• Benefit repair option after 24 months of on-time payments
• On-time grace period up to 15 days past due date

Lender 3: 

• Zero Origination Fees - Students Instantly Save 1.50%
• Zero Federal Default Fee - another instant savings of 1.00% so you receive 100% of the loan amount you borrow
• Savings can increase to 9.46% - With our Triple Payback� rewards program students can save even more when scheduled Stafford Loan payments are made on time using auto payments:
• • 1.00% principal reduction immediately at the start of repayment
  • 1.00% principal reduction after 12 payments
  • 1.50% principal reduction after 24 payments when the Triple Payback savings are combined with our zero fee benefit, students can save up to 9.46% of their original loan amount 

Had I discovered Lender List Nirvana where borrower benefits still exist and zero fee Stafford loans exist in abundance?  No, unfortunately, I had not.  Instead, I had stumbled across several lender lists that had not been updated yet this year.  In several instances, some lenders had updated information while others did not.  This is critical in helping students make the most informed decisions about loans; decisions which they are making right now.  

Helpful hints:

• Your students are frequently accessing your on-line lender lists so be sure that the information is current.  Be sure that your lenders know that you expect this information from them AS it occurs (and not weeks later). I have come across several schools who will drop lenders if they do not provide this information in a timely fashion. 
  

• Speak with your IT group about disabling old versions of your lender lists so unsuspecting students don't come across them during a Google search and think it is current information.

• Put a "Last Updated" tag on the top or bottom of the webpage, as well as labeling the list with the academic year that it covers (e.g., 2008-09). 
  

Good luck!  Your students will certainly appreciate your diligence in this matter.