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Massachusetts Board Of Higher Education
Code Of Conduct - Student Loan Programs
The primary goal of the institution and its financial aid staff is to help students achieve their educational potential by providing appropriate financial resources. To this end, this document provides institutions, specifically financial aid professionals, with a set of principles that serves as a common foundation for an acceptable standard of conduct.
Institutions and their financial aid professionals shall:
- Maintain the highest level of professionalism
- Commit to the highest level of ethical behavior, and refrain from conflict of interest or the perception thereof
- Respect the dignity and protect the privacy of students, and ensure the confidentiality of student records and personal circumstances
- Provide information to families for lenders that have proven to provide the best combination of price, access to funds and service to students and families
Further, institutions shall ensure that all officers, trustees, directors, employees or agents, and financial aid professionals adhere to the following:
- May not accept gifts, meals, travel, or any other non-trivial items from student loan providers in connection with the institution's loan business
- May not accept, from a lending institution, money, equipment or printing services or anything of value that may provide or suggest an advantage or grant a preferred status
- If serving as a member of a lending institution's advisory board, may not accept anything of value in exchange for this service, such as "revenue sharing"
- Must disclose information regarding any lender on the preferred lender list who has an agreement to sell loans to another lender
- Make clear to students and their families that they have the right and ability to borrow through any lender of their choice, regardless of a preferred lender list
- May not link or otherwise direct students and families to any electronic loan process, such as a master promissory note or other loan agreement that promotes or otherwise suggests a "preferred" status for any lending institution.
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FAFSA and New Filing Deadline
FAFSA's for the 2010/2011 academic year will be available online January 1st. Salem State College's NEW priority deadline for filing FAFSA has been changed to March 1st.