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This page provides a list of education lenders who have laid off staff or temporarily suspended or permanently exited one or more student loan programs since August 2007. (Some of these lenders may have exited FFEL or private student loan programs for reasons unrelated to the subprime mortgage credit crisis or the cuts in FFELP lender subsidies.)

Last updated: September 4, 2008.

Lender Layoffs

The total job loss estimate for the student loan industry is more than 4,463 layoffs. This estimate understates the actual total due to several lender layoffs for which no total could be obtained.

Lenders laying off staff (including attrition): 16 total

• Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, Academic Finance Corporation
• College Loan Corporation
• FinanSure
• First Marblehead
• Goal Financial
• Illinois SAC
• Loan to Learn
• MOHELA
• NELNET, Union Bank & Trust
• National Education
• NextStudent
• PHEAA
• Sallie Mae
• Student Assistance Foundation of Montana
• Student Loan Xpress
• US Education Finance Group

Loan Program Suspensions

A total of 134 education lenders have exited or suspended their participation in all or part of the federally-guaranteed student loan program (FFELP). 106 of the lenders have suspended participation in all of FFELP (2 only out of state, 2 in selected locations and/or types of colleges and 1 just first-time borrowers) and 28 have suspended just consolidation loans (for a total of 134 suspending consolidation loans).

31 lenders have suspended private student loans. (A total of 138 unduplicated lenders have suspended federal and/or private loan programs.)

These totals include 16 nonprofit state loan agencies. Four state loan agencies -- PHEAA, MEFA, MHESLA and Brazos -- have suspended all FFELP originations. NorthStar Guarantee had suspended all of FFELP, but has subsequently resumed making Stafford and PLUS loans but not consolidation loans. Brazos had suspended participation in FFELP, then resumed participation and then suspended participation in FFELP a second time. Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation had previously suspended Stafford and PLUS loans for first-time borrowers, but subsequently resumed making Stafford and PLUS loans (but not consolidation loans) to all borrowers.

Every type of lender has been affected: 16 state loan agencies, 62 banks, 18 credit unions, 4 non-profit lenders, 3 school-as-lender schools (with 45 more coming soon) and 35 non-bank lenders.

The following table summarizes the marketshare of lenders suspending one or more federal loan programs based on FY2006 and FY2007 federal loan volume data in the FFEL program. It does not include lenders who suspended participation and subsequently resumed participation.

Loan Program	FY2006	FY2007
Stafford and PLUS Loans (excluding School-as-Lender schools)	12.6% $6.3 billion > 740,000 borrowers 24 of the Top 100	12.3% $7.0 billion > 750,000 borrowers 27 of Top 100
Stafford and PLUS Loans (including School-as-Lender schools)	15.9% $7.9 billion > 940,000 borrowers 34 of the Top 100	16.0% $9.1 billion > 970,000 borrowers 37 of Top 100
Consolidation Loans	83.9% $60.7 billion > 2.1 million borrowers 10 of Top 10 44 of Top 100	85.4% $40.4 billion > 1.4 million borrowers 10 of Top 10 43 of Top 100

Note that while there were more than 2,000 lenders participating in FFELP in FY06, most of the loan volume is originated by the top 100 lenders. The top 100 lenders accounted for 91.5% of FY2007 Stafford and PLUS loan origination volume and 90.8% of FY2006 Stafford and PLUS loan origination volume. The top 100 lenders accounted for 99.8% of FY2007 consolidation loan volume and 99.7% of FY2006 consolidation loan volume. The top 100 lenders accounted for 98.6% of FY2007 loan holdings and 98.5% of FY2006 loan holdings.

Most of the major lender partners of school as lender schools have ended their participation in the school as lender program, including Sallie Mae, Nelnet, PHEAA, CollegeInvest, Brazos and MHESLA, as well as six other lenders. The 45 affected schools are now looking for new lender partners, but are unlikely to find them. These schools originated $1.7 billion in Stafford loans to more than 200,000 borrowers in FY2006 (3.3% of loan volume) and include 10 of the top 100 Stafford and PLUS loan originators.

If school as lender schools are included in the totals, a grand total of 178 lenders have suspended participation in one or more FFEL loan programs.

The following table lists the lenders who have suspended one or more loan programs, with information about the types of loans they have suspended. It also includes rank information based on FY2006 and FY2007 federal loan volume data. Rank information is included only for lenders who have suspended one or more federal loan programs. If a lender has suspended only private loan programs, no rank information is included. The nonprofit state loan agencies are listed with the name of the state in brackets after the name.

Lender	What?	FY2006 Federal Rank			FY2007 Federal Rank
		Originations	Consolidations	Holdings	Originations	Consolidations	Holdings
A+ Funds/Medfunds Graduate Level	FFELP Private
Abilene Teachers Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Academic Funding Group / Provincial Bank	FFELP Private	57			78
Academic Financial Services	FFELP
Academic Loan Group	FFELP		17	31		17	23
Access Credit Union	FFELP
Access Group	Consolidation Private	11	12	13	10	21	13
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education [Alaska]	Consolidation		92	94		97	86
Affinity Direct/Educational Direct	FFELP		19		45	4	84
ALL Student Loan	FFELP Outside California	43	42	42	36	55	37
Amarillo National Bank	FFELP
American Education Services (AES) / PHEAA [Pennsylvania]	FFELP	19	7	7	19	10	6
Ardent Financial	FFELP
Bank of America	Private Consolidation	3	28	16	3	42	16
Bank of Lake Mills	FFELP	31		80	28		71
Bank of Texas	FFELP
Bankers Trust	FFELP
Boeing Credit Union	FFELP
Brazos HESC [Texas] Brazos Student Lending, Academic Finance Corporation, Educational Funding Services, Inc. and Acapita.	FFELP	23	9	4	26	19	4
Bremer Bank	Private Consolidation
Cadence Bank	FFELP
Carnegie Student Loans	FFELP
Capitol Federal Savings, Kansas	FFELP
Capital One/Axiom	FFELP
Citi Student Loan Corporation	Consolidation	2	3	2	2	7	2
City Bank Texas	FFELP
College Board	FFELP	25		73	25		78
College Loan Corporation	FFELP Private	8	6	8	7	9	9
College Solutions Network	FFELP	96	78		40	70	88
Collegiate Solutions	FFELP		55	70		28	70
CollegeInvest [Colorado]	Consolidation	45	48	38	42	34	39
Comerica Bank	FFELP Private	37		81	39	79	92
Commerce Bank	Consolidation	32		59	34		64
Commercial Bank of Texas	FFELP Private
CoreFirst Bank	FFELP
Cornhusker Bank	FFELP
COSTEP	FFELP
Credit Union of Texas	FFELP
Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Deutsche Bank Trust Company	FFELP
Education Credit Union	FFELP
Education Finance Partners	Private Private Consolidation
F&M Bank and Trust Company	FFELP
Falcon International Bank	FFELP
Federal Student Loan Solutions	FFELP
FinanSure	FFELP Private		24	60		18	47
First Financial Bank, Eastland	FFELP
First Horizon Bank	FFELP
First Niagara Bank	FFELP
First Service Credit Union	FFELP
First United Bank	FFELP
FirstBank Southwest	FFELP
FirstMark Credit Union	FFELP
Freestone Credit Union	FFELP
Frost National Bank	FFELP	73			66		98
GATE Student Loan Program	Private
GCO-ELF	Consolidation		33	14		24	12
Goal Financial	FFELP		5	10	64	13	11
Graduate Leverage	Consolidation		14	48	54	11	44
Happy State Bank	FFELP
HCSB, A State Banking Association	FFELP
Heights State Bank	FFELP
HELP Alternative Loans	Private
HSBC Bank USA, NA	FFELP	41	76	53	43	94	57
Hereford State Bank	FFELP
IEFC	Private
Independence Federal Savings Bank	FFELP	77			87
Independent Bankers Bank	FFELP
International Bank of Commerce	FFELP
Iowa Student Loan [Iowa]	Consolidation Private		26	25		26	22
ISM Education Loans [Indiana]	Consolidation	58	23	35	76	22	27
JPMorgan Chase	Consolidation	7	20	11	4	5	8
K2 Student Loan Solutions	FFELP		37	61		23	52
Kansas State Bank of Manhattan	FFELP Private	62			69
Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation [Kentucky]	Consolidation	20	41	30	21	43	26
Kleberg Bank	FFELP
Legacy Texas Bank	FFELP
Loan to Learn	Private
Loanster Financial Group LLC	Consolidation
M&I Bank	Consolidation
M&T Bank	FFELP	40	97	91	38		91
MEFA [Massachusetts]	FFELP Private	74	72	69	62	77	69
MHESAC [Montana]	Consolidation		34	36		32	34
MHESLA [Michigan]	FFELP Private		60	29		72	29
Mills County State Bank	FFELP
MyRichUncle	FFELP
MOHELA [Missouri]	Consolidation Private		15	12		15	15
National Bank of Andrews	FFELP
National Education	FFELP	26	31	18	27	50	48
National Student Loan Group LLC (NSL Direct)	FFELP		61			69
Neches Federal Credit Union	FFELP
NELNET, Union Bank & Trust	Consolidation Private Private Consolidation	16	2	3	14	2	3
NextStudent	FFELP Private Consolidation	100	4	45	59	3	31
NHHELCO [New Hampshire]	Private Consolidation	42	45	39	41	63	41
NorthStar/T.H.E. [Minnesota]	Consolidation	13	21	15	11	45	14
Northwest Savings Bank	FFELP for first-time borrowers		89
NTHEA	Consolidation		38	36		38	37
PlainsCapital Bank	FFELP	81			91
Red River Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Regions Bank	Consolidation	34	62	43	18	86	50
Sallie Mae	Private (Recourse Loans Only) Consolidation	1	1	1	1	1	1
San Antonio Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Security Bank of Kansas City	FFELP
Sovereign Bank	FFELP	82	88	88	92
Spokane Teachers Credit Union	FFELP
SAF-MT [Montana]	FFELP outside Montana
ScholarPoint	Consolidation Private Consolidation		51			53
South Carolina Student Loan Corporation	Consolidation	21	29	22	23	37	20
StarTrust Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Student Capital Corporation	FFELP
Student Loan Xpress	FFELP Private	15	8	9	12	6	10
SunTrust Education Loans	FFELP (only in Texas)	14	11	19	13	30	18
Tarrant County Credit Union	FFELP
TCF Bank	FFELP	44		98	44
TD Banknorth	FFELP Private
Texas Bay Area Credit Union	FFELP
Texas Dow Employees Credit Union	FFELP
Texas Independent Bank	FFELP
Texas Rural Communities	FFELP
THE National Bank	FFELP Private
TierOne Bank	FFELP
Town and Country Bank Stephenville	FFELP
UHEAA	Consolidation
University of Miami	FFELP	86			89
Urban Ed Express	FFELP Private
Wachovia Education Finance	Consolidation Private (Undergraduate, Continuing Education)	5	10	5	6	16	7
Washington Mutual	FFELP Private	83
Weatherford National Bank	FFELP
Wells Fargo	Consolidation	4	18	6	5	8	5
West Des Moines State Bank	FFELP Private
Wichita Falls Teachers Federal Credit Union	FFELP
Widener University	FFELP
Zions Bank	FFELP Private	61		97	81

Lenders with failed student loan securitization (auction rates) include:

• Brazos
• EdSouth
• College Loan Corporation
• Montana Higher Education Student Assistance Corporation
• Mississippi
• Sallie Mae
• First Marblehead
• Vermont (VSAC)

Lenders Reentering the Student Loan Marketplace

The following lenders have resumed making loans under one or more education loan programs that had previously been suspended at least in part:

• Graduate Leverage
• Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation
• NorthStar Guarantee
• River City Federal Credit Union

Brazos reentered FFELP but then suspended participation a second time after seeing the final details of the terms of the US Department of Education's loan purchase authority.

Chronology of Lender Actions

This table shows a timeline of actions that lenders have taken with regard to the changed environment for lender profitability, such as suspending one or more loan programs, laying off staff, closing servicing centers and suspending loan acquisitions.