Three private colleges in Connecticut will add a total of $75,000 to their scholarship funds to settle allegations of questionable arrangements with a student loan agency, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Monday.
Trinity College, Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University all denied any wrongdoing but agreed to abide by a code of conduct that would no longer permit the kind of arrangement they had with the College Board.
The three schools received discounts on computer software from the New York-based college loan agency as part of an arrangement that included placing the agency on their list of preferred lenders. The arrangement had not been disclosed to student borrowers and "potentially violated consumer protection laws," Blumenthal said.
The schools were among 17 private colleges and universities in Connecticut signing a new code of conduct that Blumenthal called "the gold standard for the whole country in conduct and standards for student loans."
The code is the result of a continuing investigation of student lending practices in Connecticut, Blumenthal said. Officials at the state's public colleges - including the University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State University system and the Connecticut Community Colleges system - also are considering similar codes of conduct.
The student lending industry came under intense scrutiny this year after investigations in New York and elsewhere uncovered conflicts of interest and questionable lending practices. In New York, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo reported finding illegal steering to preferred lenders along with cases in which college financial aid officers received gifts, held stock in lending companies or got consulting fees from lenders.
Source : http://www.courant.com/
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