Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation was one of the largest student loan providers and guarantors in the United States.[1] Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, the corporation is non-profit. It was one of the four largest companies which service United States federal student loans: Great Lakes, Nelnet, Navient, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.[2] In 2018, the loan servicing part of the organization was sold to Nelnet.
The company sometimes gives education-related grants,[3][4] with a focus on increasing access to higher education.[5]
Loan servicing
edit| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Student loans |
| Revenue | $230 million[6] (2017) |
Number of employees | 1,800[6] |
| Parent | Nelnet |
| Website | mygreatlakes |
The former loan servicing arm of Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. guaranteed over $51 billion in loans under FFELP, and works with 6,000 schools, 1,100 lenders and 10,000,000 borrowers.[7]
In order to replace their loan servicing contract with the United States Department of Education, which expired on June 16, 2019, Great Lakes decided in 2016 to make its bid for a new contract in cooperation with the competing student loan servicer, Nelnet.[2] In October 2017, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation reached an agreement to sell off 100% of the stock of its subsidiary, the Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. to Nelnet.[8] The company was to be sold for $150 million, initially keeping CEO Jeff Crosby in charge, but with a plan of consolidating the companies together.[9] On February 7, 2018, Nelnet announced that it had completed the acquisition of Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc..[6] The loan servicing operation is now a fully owned subsidiary of Nelnet, the combined company now servicing 42% of the total federal student loan debt.[10]
References
edit- ^ Hoover's, Inc - Great Lakes Higher Education Company Description - [1](retrieved September 7, 2009)
- ^ a b Olberding, Matt (1 Jul 2016). "Nelnet teams up with Great Lakes to bid on new federal loan servicing contract". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 28 Aug 2018.
- ^ http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRNewswire/release/192657.html (Press release retrieved September 7, 2009)
- ^ Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation. "Great Lakes Awards $225,000 to Wisconsin Educators Supporting College Access". National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Archived from the original on 2010-04-20. Retrieved 7 Sep 2009.
- ^ Balousek, Marv (December 6, 2007). "Working with Students to Pay for College". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. ISSN 0749-405X. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Nelnet (7 Feb 2018). "Nelnet Completes Acquisition of Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc". PR Newswire. Retrieved 28 Aug 2018.
- ^ https://home.mygreatlakes.org/web/about/gl/WorkWith (retrieved March 18, 2014)
- ^ Nelnet (19 Oct 2017). "Nelnet to Acquire Great Lakes Educational Loan Services". PR Newswire. Retrieved 28 Aug 2018.
- ^ Aadland, Chris (20 Oct 2017). "Nebraska company buys Madison-based Great Lakes Educational Loan Services for $150 million". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 28 Aug 2018.
- ^ Berman, Jillian (6 Mar 2018). "One company will now handle close to half of all student-loan payments". Market Watch. Retrieved 28 Aug 2018.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation recipient profile on USAspending.gov
- Contract ED-FSA-09-D-0012 on USAspending.gov
