ISIR Can Help in Outreach to Students Who Over-Borrow

Submitted by: Shannon Cross, USA Funds account executive

For 2015-2016, there’s a new comment code on the ISIR, or Institutional Student Information Record, that can help you in your default prevention efforts.

But what, you ask, does a comment code on the ISIR have to do with helping borrowers prevent default? The answer is that this new code can simplify the way you gather information about total debt for your students who are over-borrowing.

Consider this: A 2013 U.S. Department of Education survey showed that 47 percent of all borrowers surveyed took out more loans than they anticipated for college. The 47 percent who borrowed more than they expected also said that, if given the opportunity to do it again, they’d find out exactly how much they were borrowing.

So, while those borrowers in the Department’s survey didn’t necessarily exceed their annual or aggregate loan limits, the survey results do show that providing information about total loan debt could make a big difference in students’ debt management.

The new ISIR code can help with your outreach to those students who have over-borrowed to the point that they’ve exceeded their loan limits.

Starting in 2015-2016, the ISIR will show whether a borrower has a reaffirmation agreement in place for exceeding the loan limit. If you’re not familiar with reaffirmation agreements, they’re the student loan servicer documentation that students who have over-borrowed must provide before receiving additional aid. That documentation shows that the borrower made satisfactory arrangements to resolve that over-borrowing and again is eligible for federal aid for school.

The new code can simplify your assistance to students who are over-borrowing if, like most financial aid management systems, your system pulls reports based on ISIR codes. With the new reaffirmation agreement ISIR code as a reference, in just a few mouse clicks, you’ll be able to pull up an individual borrower’s total amount borrowed, anticipated monthly loan payment amount, and repayment options available to that borrower.

Of course, having that ISIR code to signify that a reaffirmation agreement is in place also will save you the time and effort of collecting and retaining that necessary documentation yourself. And any time that you save in your office means more time for working with students to help them make wise borrowing and repayment decisions.

Whether you’re enhancing your loan counseling offerings or providing additional information to borrowers as you package aid, any feature that allows you to more easily keep students abreast of their total loan debt — especially those who have over-borrowed — can benefit your default prevention efforts.

And if you need assistance with default prevention planning or borrower outreach, contact USA Funds®.