New Web site to act as clearinghouse for loans

Current developments at Penn's Information Systems and Computing promise to change the way students manage their loans -- from less service to self-service.

In collaboration with Student Financial Services, ISC is attempting to design an online, interactive Student Borrowing Management System that will allow students to apply for new loans, inquire as to their loan status and micromanage their loan disbursements. All in one place.

"With this new system, we can improve the through-put of loan processing," said Tessa Bocage, project leader for the SBMS in ISC.

"A lot more service and functionality, in a lot less time. The point was to improve the accessibility, accuracy and timeliness of loan information."

The new system -- to be implemented in spring 2006 -- will be accessible through Penn-Portal as a stand-alone system, utilizing some of the former capabilities available through Penn InTouch.

Formerly, Penn's loan management system only allowed electronic funds transfer and management with Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency or Citibank, which handle a majority of student loans at Penn.

The remaining student loans worked with an outdated system for loan disbursement and inquiry that distributed paper checks and was much more time-intensive.

SBMS should change all that. Electronic funds transfer will be available across the board, and loan inquiries or applications will be handled automatically by the software. Additionally, the software will inform users if an individual fails to meet any eligibility issues, allowing the University to be more proactive in helping its students manage and pay their tuition.

"ISC provides the information technology expertise, while SFS provides the business expertise with loans, and with the University. They have a vested interest in maintaining the University's competitive advantage, as students are always struggling to pay for college," Bocage said.

However, the SBMS will not assist students in managing repayment of their loans after graduation.

"Penn does not service loan repayments -- other sites handle that, specific to each servicer," Bocage said. "If they want, students who have graduated can still access the loan system to check if something isn't right, but it won't help them organize payments."

Development began in spring 2004 after two years of planning. The software is the largest student system being created using the custom-built Framework for Administrative System Technology -- a technology platform that provides reusable services to applications with less cost, more security and reduced development time.

FAST also allows ISC to be in a better position for implementing the next generation of student systems.

"Since the next generation will likely be entirely Web-based, it will be much easier for the SBMS to integrate with other applications using FAST than under the old architecture," Bocage said.

According to Jim Choate, technical director at ISC, other applications using FAST will include the new online directory -- available later this year -- and Penn's Electronic Research Administration, a research tool that will debut next week.

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