UHEAA Announces a New Partnership Agreement to
Provide Streamlined Educational Loan Processing
Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA) is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has agreed to a partnership with American Education Service (AES). The partnership will provide Utah's higher education students, Utah's higher education institutions and UHEAA partner lenders with a set of comprehensive education loan processing tools that will streamline the delivery of student financial aid. AES is a division of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), through which PHEAA provides systems support to other agencies. Working with AES, UHEAA will convert its guarantee program administrative system to PHEAA's state-of-the-art new OneLinkTM system.
The partnership will provide UHEAA the technology necessary to offer the best student financial aid service available. OneLink? features three electronic processes that allow for fast, efficient, accurate, and economical disbursement of financial aid funds to schools and students. Schools will be able to select one or a combination of the following options:
Onelink Direct - an on-line computerized processing system that saves schools time, eliminates paper processing and speeds loan disbursements. Using the Internet, schools will be able to view and certify loan records and obtain instant processing results. Other benefits include instant access to loan files, on-line correction of loan certification data and an integrated security system.
UHEAA and AES staff members have already started the comprehensive planning, data-mapping and system analysis required for converting to OneLinkTM. To ensure adequate preparation and a smooth transition, the schedule will extend through the end of the 2000 calendar year. Meanwhile, UHEAA will continue to install enhancements to its present system, maintaining electronic networks with schools and lenders in line with student loan industry trends.OneLink Systems - a specialized automated processing option allowing schools to fully integrate their internal systems with UHEAA's mainframe processing system.OneLink Personal - an easy-to-use electronic process using NCHELP's CommonLine Network for sending and receiving application data using schools' personal computers. OneLink Personal allows schools to generate a variety of timesaving reports for internal record keeping.
PHEAA, established in 1963, is the designated guarantor for the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. As one of the nations largest, full-service financial organizations, PHEAA manages over $33 billion in total assets and serves nearly four million parents and students through its guaranty, servicing and financial aid processing systems. PHEAA has established a reputation for providing efficient and accurate technology that has saved schools millions of dollars in administrative costs. Through its AES division, PHEAA is making its advanced systems capabilities available to student loan guaranty agencies and secondary markets nationwide.
UHEAA, a subsidiary of the Utah State Board of Regents, is the designated student loan guaranty agency and secondary market for Utah, and administers the Utah Educational Savings Program, the Utah Centennial Opportunity Program for Education, and other state student financial aid programs.
For more information on the partnership between UHEAA and AES, please contact David A. Feitz, Deputy Executive Director of UHEAA for Policy and Development, at (801) 321-7210.