2008 Woodie Awards
MU says university not involved in student loan kickback scandal
Megan Milstead
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Campus
as improper."
Improper practices include actions such as a free luncheon that lenders often give university loan offices to show their appreciation for recommendations.
"Almost any lender, if you allow them to, will buy your office lunch to thank you," Knepfle said. "There is nothing in my mind wrong with that, but we stay away from anything like that anyway."
Miami University's private loans Web page states that the university surveyed many lenders and ended up with a list of 14 contenders for this school year.
They then evaluated these lenders through an extensive list of criteria that they use to determine which will ultimately be recommended to students.
Some of the criteria include cosigner release options, interest rates, minimum loan amount, and the range of repayment options.
The customer service of each lender was also determined through feedback from university staff and students.
Knepfle said that he feels it is important for the loan offices to recommend banks to students and parents.
"In our opinion, we think students rely on us to be the expert in the field and recommend something good so they don't get ripped off," Knepfle said.
Because of the wealth of information the attorney general's office has to sift through, Laliberte said it would be unfair to those conducting the investigation to put any type of time frame on when results will be compiled.
"We're going to do our best to get through the information quickly," Laliberte said.
Knepfle said there are two paths that can be taken when a school is investigated for financial aid dishonesty and could possibly be found guilty. The first deals with the problem
internally.
"The school is accused and puts the financial aid director on paid leave while the university investigates," Knepfle said.
He has also seen the other option, where deals are struck between the school and the entity investigating.
"I have seen some of this handled where a governor, attorney general, or department of education would accuse a school of something, and it's like a plea bargain," Knepfle said. "They will drop charges if the school agrees to a code of conduct."
These codes of conduct are something Attorney General Dann expects after the investigation is finished.
"The attorney general really wants to see subsequent reform and some statewide resolution to this conflict through ethics policies," Laliberte said.
Improper practices include actions such as a free luncheon that lenders often give university loan offices to show their appreciation for recommendations.
"Almost any lender, if you allow them to, will buy your office lunch to thank you," Knepfle said. "There is nothing in my mind wrong with that, but we stay away from anything like that anyway."
Miami University's private loans Web page states that the university surveyed many lenders and ended up with a list of 14 contenders for this school year.
They then evaluated these lenders through an extensive list of criteria that they use to determine which will ultimately be recommended to students.
Some of the criteria include cosigner release options, interest rates, minimum loan amount, and the range of repayment options.
The customer service of each lender was also determined through feedback from university staff and students.
Knepfle said that he feels it is important for the loan offices to recommend banks to students and parents.
"In our opinion, we think students rely on us to be the expert in the field and recommend something good so they don't get ripped off," Knepfle said.
Because of the wealth of information the attorney general's office has to sift through, Laliberte said it would be unfair to those conducting the investigation to put any type of time frame on when results will be compiled.
"We're going to do our best to get through the information quickly," Laliberte said.
Knepfle said there are two paths that can be taken when a school is investigated for financial aid dishonesty and could possibly be found guilty. The first deals with the problem
internally.
"The school is accused and puts the financial aid director on paid leave while the university investigates," Knepfle said.
He has also seen the other option, where deals are struck between the school and the entity investigating.
"I have seen some of this handled where a governor, attorney general, or department of education would accuse a school of something, and it's like a plea bargain," Knepfle said. "They will drop charges if the school agrees to a code of conduct."
These codes of conduct are something Attorney General Dann expects after the investigation is finished.
"The attorney general really wants to see subsequent reform and some statewide resolution to this conflict through ethics policies," Laliberte said.
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