To set up your account, you will need a User ID, temporary password, temporary security code, and
a Symantec VIP device or app to generate your long-term security code. The following questions will help us determine
where you are in the set-up process.
Have you received an email with your User ID, temporary Password and temporary Security Code?
Chances are good you've seen or heard from your Great Lakes representative at a spring conference or for your spring private loan processing checkup. If you haven't
already, you'll be hearing from him or her soon. In the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about making peak private loan
processing season go more smoothly.
There's a holiday coming up. Will Great Lakes be open for business? If you use Central Disbursement Service to automate private loan disbursements, are you wondering if that holiday
will impact your disbursement dates? A handy document on Support Central answers your questions about holidays in 2018.
Great Lakes Bulletin will be changing after the May 15, 2018 issue—and we want to hear your thoughts on which articles and features you
find most useful. We invite you to email your feedback to our new mailbox.
Have you ever taken a quiz to find out what kind of potato you are, or what state your spirit connects with? You may not realize it, but when
you take those quizzes—or when you download a new app to your phone—you opt in to share your data. Learn more about what you're agreeing to,
and how your data is being used in different ways.
Memorial Day (May 28, 2018) is a day to remember and honor the bravery and commitment of our servicemembers. Did you also know it's when Great
Lakes reaches out to remind servicemembers of education–related benefits available to them?
Whether you like the word "synergy" or not, there's truth to the sum of all parts being greater than the whole—at least when it comes to
tackling financial literacy. Businesses and campuses working together can produce creative solutions and successful events. And, even on
your campus, collaborating with other departments is key.
With financial literacy front of mind for April, we've got plenty of other great 'F' words for you. First up? FASTChoice. It's free, flexible, for everyone—and fabulous at helping your current or exiting students prepare for financial fitness. Want to find out how far-fetched the alliteration may get? Fasten your seatbelt, and follow along.
Research shows in-school students benefit from the type of detailed loan information student debt letters provide. Find out why your colleagues are recommending College Cost Meter as the solution to deliver this important information.
It takes many people working together to help students find a way to attend college, search for ways to pay for college responsibly, and exit
college with a degree, an understanding about finances and their obligations, and a plan for finding the repayment help they need. It also
takes a team to process loans and payments efficiently. There's one partner you won't be able to overlook this spring.
If April showers bring May flowers, what does March planning bring? April fun that engages your students for Financial Literacy Month.
Start planning now, and you can have a positive impact on your students' ability to understand finances, budget, and make smart financial
decisions to succeed on campus and in life.
Unfortunately, fraud and identity theft can happen to anyone at any time. Here's what you can expect from Great Lakes when one of your
students reports an incident.
Part of our commitment to keeping you informed is calling your attention to changes in the industry. In case you missed it, FSA shared general information with the
financial aid community about their reporting of student loan interest payments. Because we know many of you assist your borrowers with their questions about student
loan interest, we wanted to make sure you were aware of this announcement.
Helping in-school borrowers attain financial success and gain a better understanding of student loans and debt is vital for Great Lakes—especially since 69% of college students feel stressed about their personal finances. Later this month, as part of our financial wellness campaign, 2 million in-school borrowers will receive an email promoting a popular Knowledge Center topic, Top 6 Ways to Reduce What You Owe.
It's time to gear up for draft season... draft CDRs, that is. As you prepare to receive your school's draft CDR data later this month, pull out some important lists we've provided, and register for one or more helpful free webinars so you're all ready to take on the challenge. (Pardon the pun!)
On January 11, 2018, Mark Zuckerberg himself announced that, due to feedback from the community, Facebook is making changes in order to improve engagement for users. What's changing, and how will it impact your institution?
The Common Manual has been updated to incorporate changes recently approved by the Common Manual Governing Board. You can find these changes in the Common Manual Policy Change Bulletins that are available on schools.mygreatlakes.org.
When Great Lakes was founded in 1967, we were established as a nonprofit organization with a single mission: promoting
college access and completion. Simply put, we were charged with getting more students to and through college.
Here at Great Lakes, we're excited about what 2018 promises to bring. We know many of your students continue to rely on private loans to help finance higher education. That's why the solutions we provide to you are continually being updated to provide easy loan selection or counseling for your students—and to help you process loan disbursements and refunds efficiently. See what's new in 2018.
When many students hear the word "scholarship," they mistakenly think it's something reserved only for a select few. Here's how you can help your students discover the billions of dollars in scholarships available for individuals just like them.
Social listening is a powerful tool that allows you to review online conversation over the course of time. Are you curious about what
terms, ideas, and topics were featured most prevalently in online conversations among financial aid professionals in 2017?
Since school is back in session, we want to provide you with a refresher on refund processing, including useful tips on how to process refunds for each loan type.
If your students are like many of the rest of us, the thought of filing income taxes can be daunting.
What are the most important tax tips you can share with your students? A few basics can help them understand
what income counts, whether they need to—or should—file, what forms to use, and how to go about filing with a minimum of stress.
As announced in October, Nelnet and Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation and Affiliates have entered into an agreement through
which Nelnet will acquire Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. This transaction was expected to close on December 31, 2017.
This week, Nelnet and Great Lakes received requests from the United States Department of Justice for additional time and information
to complete its assessment of the acquisition.
Having a good social media policy serves as the backbone—and a roadmap—for any successful social media program. While she wasn't thinking
of hair when she coined the phrase, Senior Social Media Specialist Renola Swoboda says the GEL method is a great way for you to set direction
and fill out policy for your social media efforts.
What's the skinny on credit monitoring services? Are they really needed? What should students look for when shopping for services? We've got
tips you can share with the students with whom you work.
A growing number of states have enacted laws requiring schools to send student debt letters. Find out the top 5 reasons why College Cost Meter is the right tool for you.
As a federal loan servicer, we receive a number of communications from schools stating that a student or parent borrower was not eligible for a Direct Loan disbursement,
and asking that a final demand letter be sent to the borrower. Here's what you need to know about final demand letters, including the right time to request that we send one.
It's always been important to know what people are saying about your institution, but it hasn't always been this hard. With the rapid evolution of communication technologies—and the fact that students are among the fastest adopters of new apps, social platforms, and communication trends—you may feel you're running on an ever-increasing treadmill. Fortunately, there are tools and programs to help you from becoming derailed.
Veterans Day (November 11) is a day to remember and honor the bravery and commitment of our servicemembers. Did you also know it's
when Great Lakes reaches out to remind servicemembers of education-related benefits available to them?
It's a bit ridiculous when you think about October 18, 2017 being National Chocolate Cupcake Day. It's also Necktie Day in Croatia—where the
necktie was born—and numerous other countries, too. But more importantly, October 18 is National Financial Aid Day, and that's something
Great Lakes can wholeheartedly get behind.
For numerous reasons, many college age students inadvertently leave themselves vulnerable to identity thieves. You can help your students avoid being ripe for the picking.
Part of our commitment to keeping you informed is calling your attention to changes in the industry. In case you missed it, ED recently reminded financial aid professionals that authority for the Perkins Loan Program ended September 30, 2017. See the latest on what this means for your school and your students.
With Halloween just around the corner, there are plenty of things to give you a good fright—but your social media effort
shouldn't be one of them! Our resident social media expert Renola has some great tips to help you turn your social scares into successes.
Great Lakes is committed to doing what's right for our student loan borrowers and business partners, whether it's servicing federal
loans, providing grants, or serving as state guarantor. In support of that commitment, we're taking on a new role as state guarantor for Montana.
With the recent buzz about student debt letter requirements, you may have questions about how to best communicate vital debt information to your students. Let's take a closer look at student debt letters and some tips on how you can use them most effectively.
Over the past 10 years, an elite Great Lakes group has helped 4.8 million borrowers avoid default and its crippling consequences. With more than two Federal Direct loan borrowers defaulting every minute, these superheroes are needed more than ever.
With official Cohort Default Rates just released, you may be asking, "How do I prevent students from defaulting?" Well, we're confident our upcoming new Cohort Catalyst™ is the answer. Check out this exciting Attigo™ student success solution on the horizon.
The Fiscal Year 2014 Official 3-Year Cohort Default Rates (CDRs) are slated to be released to all eligible schools, guaranty agencies, and lenders on September 25, but like us, you're working year-round to help students avoid default. Check out a few of the ways we have your back.
For many of us in the financial aid office, it's challenging to keep up with technology used to fuel the social media channels students
use every day. There's an art and a talent to reaching students with social media, but you can learn from experts, too. That's why Great Lakes
is pleased to have its own expert in-house whose wisdom we'll be sharing with you in a new monthly column.
Dealing with the death of a current or former student can be one of the most emotionally difficult things to deal with as a financial
aid professional. When it happens, it's a situation you want to handle with the utmost care and concern, making it as simple and comfortable
for the family as possible. Great Lakes is here to help with some reminders on how to handle this situation. You can always count on
Great Lakes, as a federal loan servicer, to help you navigate and resolve crucial issues as quickly, tactfully, and seamlessly as possible.
The 2017 edition of the Common Manual Unified Student Loan Policy is now available. The updated Manual includes all of the policies affecting current Federal Family Education Loan Program rules that were developed and updated during the past year. You can obtain the 2017 edition in electronic format via our Policy and Compliance page or on the Common Manual website.
It's that time of year again! September brings many unforeseen issues to the financial aid office. Our reminders about the enrollment verification process can help you streamline this routine part of your job, freeing you up to handle the unexpected.
At many colleges, a student who has even a fairly small unpaid balance on his or her campus account can't graduate. Completion grants have
proven to be an effective tool for helping at-risk seniors cross the finish line and Great Lakes is helping colleges learn how to implement them.
How can community colleges help more students of all backgrounds graduate with the right skills to build a rewarding career? To address this
issue, Great Lakes is funding a project by the Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program designed to help align community college credentials
with the job market.
We like to make it easy for you to find resources you need to help your students with their federal loans. We recently made slight
changes to the Auto Pay Authorization Form for borrowers with Great Lakes-serviced loans, and to our third party authorization forms.
Make sure you and your students are using the correct forms.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will release Fiscal Year 2014 Official 3-Year Cohort Default Rates (CDRs) to all eligible schools,
guaranty agencies, and lenders later in September. Great Lakes can help you gear up for CDR season with tips, tools, and training that
will help you improve your CDR and—more importantly—set your students up for success.
For 50 years, Great Lakes has been working—with you, students, lenders, and other organizations—to help students be successful. Over the
decades, virtually everything in the world of higher education has changed. To help us keep track of evolving needs, you'll still find us at
dozens of state and regional financial aid conferences this fall, but we'll also be at a few new conferences related to student success.
Consistently using secure tools to upload personally identifiable information (PII) protects the students you work with, as well helping your institution to avoid costly security breaches. Avoid sending sensitive or personal information via email—on the job and in your personal life—to reduce the risk of stolen information, identity theft, and compromised account information.
Great things often start with one small step in the right direction. The Scholarship Movement—the movement towards a better way of processing outside scholarship funds—begins with you! Find out how a small action on your part can Spark Change™ and have a big impact on the world of scholarships!
A growing number of states are enacting legislation requiring schools to send student debt letters. Is your state one of them? We can help. College Cost Meter makes student debt letters easy.
Whether you're new to the financial aid office or just need a refresher for the upcoming fall season, we're here with some helpful tips for efficient refund processing.
Like you, we understand that students who start and don't complete their degree are a growing group that needs extra attention. There are multiple points in a student's journey where we can work together to make a long-term difference in his or her life. Great Lakes' new Attigo™ suite of solutions will help you empower students to overcome the barriers to college access, persistence, graduation, and successful student loan repayment.
No one likes to be the last to know something, which is why we continually call your attention to changes in the industry. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) postponed the implementation of the Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations until judicial challenges are resolved.
Great Lakes partnered with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to award $200,000 in scholarships to Ohio apprentices with financial need. We hope to replicate the success our Wisconsin scholarship recipients have achieved.
Part of our commitment to keeping you informed is calling your attention to changes in the industry. In case you missed it, ED recently released interest rates for Direct Loans first disbursed between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. We have the details of the announcement you need to stay in the loop.
Great Lakes has taken the first steps toward streamlining the delivery of outside scholarship funds with the launch of ScholarNet® for Scholarships,
and ScholarshipMovement.org, a dedicated website
to support our campaign to Spark Change™ from an outdated process. We're streamlining scholarship delivery via electronic funds exchange, and
connecting scholarship providers and schools for the good of everyone involved. Get ready to join the movement!
Great Lakes has extended our Dash emergency grant program to four-year colleges for the first time. Thirty-two colleges and universities in six states will share a combined $7.2 million in grants to help their low-income students stay enrolled despite financial setbacks.
If you can't make it to San Diego for the 2017 National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) National Conference, you can still interact with Great Lakes and all of the other NASFAA attendees from the comfort of your home or office.
Just follow along online on your favorite social media channel to catch everything but the whale-watching tours.
Great Lakes engages its in-school borrowers with an annual email campaign, four times a year, to promote financial
wellness and a better understanding of student loans and debt. In May 2017, as part of this campaign, 2 million in-school
borrowers received an email promoting a popular Knowledge Center topic, Know Your Federal Student Loan Repayment Options.
We've spent 50 years working together to make college a reality and build brighter futures. If you're planning a trip to San Diego for the 2017 National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) National Conference, come celebrate with us and learn about new ways we can continue to help you and your students achieve their dreams.
Anyone who works with college students knows you have to be creative and persistent when trying to reach them with important information and helpful tips. That's why we've created a new Financial Wellness Support page on our Financial Aid Professionals portal to provide planning resources for you, and helpful flyers and exercises you can share with your students.
