COMMITTEES

NCHER’s Committees offer the membership the opportunity to play a key role in policy and operational development, to share best practices, and hash out policy issues with subject matter experts. As the “heart” of NCHER, the committees allow our members to be agents of change in their respective fields, thereby having an impact and making a difference across the entire higher education industry.

College Access and Success Committee

The purpose of NCHER’s College Access and Success Committee is to provide support to the membership in meeting their missions to increase college access and completion for students interested in pursuing a postsecondary education. The Committee fosters and promotes best practices for those activities around career and college exploration, planning, and counseling; pre-college, in-school, and post-college financial literacy; college-to-career initiatives; and supports efforts to assist students in transitioning to successful employment. The committee holds calls every other month.

Federal Program and Regulations Committee

The purpose of NCHER’s Federal Program and Regulations Committee is to provide regulatory support to the membership and a forum for sharing operational knowledge, experience, and best practices among all federal student loan program participants, including holders, servicers, guaranty agencies, collection agencies, and others. The committee supports efforts to improve the servicing, collections, and overall administration of both the Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). The committee holds calls every other month.

NCHER Legal Affairs Committee

The NCHER Legal Affairs Committee serves as a resource for NCHER on legal topics. The Committee hosts open meetings throughout the year to discuss issues of concern to NCHER members and provides vital legal updates on many of the major issues impacting the higher education finance industry. The committee holds two legal meetings each year – one in the spring and one of the fall.

Private Loan and Consumer Finance Committee

The purpose of NCHER’s Private Loan and Consumer Finance Committee is to provide a forum for state, nonprofit, and for-profit loan providers, servicers, collection agencies, schools, and others to promote the development of sound public policy with respect to private education loans. The Committee tracks non-federal education lending, including consumer credit products that do not meet the statutory definition of private education loans but still provide funds to pay for higher education (e.g., open-end credit programs, home equity loans, and mortgage loan refinancing). The Committee monitors consumer credit legislative and regulatory activities at both the national and state levels and provides recommended improvements to policy makers. The committee holds calls every other month.