ABOUT

History

The National Council of Higher Education Resources (NCHER) is the nation’s oldest and largest higher education finance trade association.

From the organization’s founding in 1967 to 2010, NCHER’s members predominantly included lenders, servicers, guaranty agencies, and collection agencies responsible for administering the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Through its ongoing activities, NCHER supported the FFELP community by sharing best practices in the servicing of federal loans and designing and updating the Common Manual that set uniform standards for the industry.

With passage of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which eliminated new FFELP originations, NCHER’s members now also include:

• Servicers and collection agencies with contracts with the U.S. Department of Education to service and recover loans made under the Federal Direct Loan Program;
• Lenders that provide private or alternative loans to student and parent borrowers;
• Third-party service providers that assist colleges and universities and their students in the proper management of student loan debt and assist student and parent borrowers stay out delinquency and default; and
• State grant agencies focused on improving pre-college, in-school, and post-college financial literacy and promoting college access and success.

Through its ongoing activities, NCHER now also supports the sharing of best practices across all federal and private student loan programs.