Missouri Student Loan Group

The Missouri Student Loan Group, a division of the MDHE, administers the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program in the state of Missouri . As the state's designated guaranty agency, the MDHE guaranteed approximately 171,000 student loans to help students achieve their educational goals in state fiscal year 2006. During this time period, more than $1 billion in student loans were administered.

The MDHE offers a variety of products and services to help schools and borrowers:

MODEL and MODEL Direct- a real-time loan origination system.
ATOM - a free loan disbursement service.
Default Prevention - training and technical assistance as well as grant funds for schools.
Compliance - tools and technical assistance.
Client Representatives - on-site customer service and assistance for schools
Information Center - toll-free call center for assisting MDHE borrowers.
Student Loan Forms - Master Promissory Notes (MPNs), application wrappers, and other forms.

Benefits of Using the MDHE as Your FFEL Program Guarantor

• The FFEL Program's 1% Default Fee (FDF) is subsidized by many lenders and servicers. Borrowers choosing one of these lenders will benefit by saving the 1% fee. This amounts to $35.00 in savings for a freshman borrowing the full subsidized loan amount during the 2007-08 academic year.
• Borrowers choosing to use the MDHE and MOHELA will receive maximum financial benefits during repayment, including deeply discounted interest rates and periodic loan forgiveness programs. (See MOHELA's website for more information.) To compare  the actual long-term differences in costs, you may visit the finaid.org site and use various calculators. The Loan Discount Analyzer calculator can help you compare the differences in fee subsidies compared to interest rate reductions and other benefits.
• The MDHE offers state grants and scholarships. The MDHE pays all administrative costs associated with the Bright Flight academic scholarship and other state aid programs from any revenues related to the student loan programs. This allows 100% of tax payer dollars to be given directly to students.
• The FFEL Program's 1.5% Origination Fee (OFee) for Stafford Loans is subsidized by many lenders and servicers. Borrowers choosing one of these lenders will benefit by saving the 1.5% OFee. This amounts to $52.50 in savings for a freshman borrowing the full subsidized loan amount during the 2007-08 academic year.

To learn more about the MDHE's student loan programs, email info@dhe.mo.gov , call the client representative for your territory , or call the MDHE at (800) 473-6757.

If you would like a complete national FFEL Program lender list, the U.S. Department of Education provides a comprehensive list.