s Hopkins to settle student-loan probe

[Guest guest]

Wow! Talking owing one's soul to the company store! This is another example

of greed and corruption at the loftiest levels of higher education.

s Hopkins to settle student-loan probe

Following investigations into student loan practices at a number of

universities, s Hopkins has agreed to pay $1.125 million to settle a probe.

June 14 2007: 4:21 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- s Hopkins University has agreed to pay $1.125

million to settle a probe of its student loan practices, the New York attorney

general said Thursday.

The settlement is the latest in a nationwide probe of conflicts of interest

in the $85 billion student loan industry. Twenty-six schools and seven

lenders, including _Sallie Mae_

(http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=SLM & source=story_quote_link)

(_Charts_

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, _Fortune 500_

(http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/1227.html?sour\

ce=story_f500_link) ),

_JP Chase_

(http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=JPM & source=story_quote_link)

(_Charts_

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, _Fortune 500_

(http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/1871.html?sour\

ce=story_f500_link) ) and _Bank of

America_

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(_Charts_

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, _Fortune 500_

(http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/snapshots/164.html?sourc\

e=story_f500_link) ), have reached agreements

with New York Attorney General Cuomo.

Video _More video_ (http://money.cnn.com/services/video/)

Millions of American students have been scammed by the student loan

industry. CNN's Romans reports (April 24) _Play video

_

(javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/business/2007/04/24/romans.student.loan.scan\

dal.cnn')

The latest agreement resulted from Cuomo's findings that Ellen Frishberg, the

director of student financial services at s Hopkins, was improperly

promoting a lender, Student Loan Xpress, after the company paid her more than

$65,000 in consulting fees and other payments, the AG's office said. Student

Loan Xpress is now a unit of CIT Group Inc.

A lawyer for Frishberg could not be reached immediately for comment.

_Student loan investigation widens_

(http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/06/pf/college/bc.studentloans.cuomo.reut/index.htm\

)

In a statement, s Hopkins said the payments by Student Loan Xpress, made

from 2002 to 2006, had not been disclosed to it, which was a violation of its

conflict-of-interest policies.

s Hopkins said that under the settlement, it has specifically denied

violating New York law.

_Columbia U. settles over student loans _ (http://money.cnn.com/2007/0

6/01/pf/college/columbia_loans.reut/index.htm)

" Although it is clear that one university employee violated university policy

in her relationships with student loan companies, s Hopkins as an

institution has always stood for a financial aid program that meets the highest

ethical standards, " university President Brody said.

Frishberg was placed on administrative leave on April 9 and resigned on May

18, the university said.

Hopkins will pay $562,000 to the New York attorney general's fund for

educating college students about the financial aid process, and $562,500 to

implement a similar program administered by the land attorney general.

The university also agreed to submit to monitoring by the New York and

land attorneys general and to abide by Cuomo's code of conduct, the AG's

office said.

(http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/14/pf/college/bc.johnshopkins.cuomo.reut/index.htm\

?section=money_email_alerts#TOP)

_Loan sharks on campus_

(http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/03/pf/college/studentloans.moneymag/index.htm?post\

version=2007050310)

_Student loan scandal: Effects on consolidation_

(http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/29/pf/college/loan_consolidation_decision/index.ht\

m?postversion=2007052914)

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