Industry Initiatives
Common Account Maintenance (CAM)
Common Claim Initiative (CCI)
CommonLine®
Electronic Signature
Meteor
Common Account Maintenance (CAM)
CAM is the student loan industry' s electronic standard used to
report information about students, borrowers and loans. Created by the National
Council of Higher Education (NCHELP), CAM provides lenders, servicers and guarantors
with a standardized process for exchanging data. Among other things, CAM specifies
the type of content, record format and file structure for sharing data on borrowers
and their loans.
Benefits of CAM include:
Replaces proprietary formats
Standardizes communication between guarantors, lenders and servicers
Complements CommonLineSM Change Transactions
Facilitates more efficient error resolution
Additional information about can be found on NCHELP's Web site.
The CCI project was born out of the requirements of the 1992 reauthorization of the higher education act of 1965, which mandated the standardization of forms and procedures for various aspects of loan delivery, claim filing policies and processes in the FFELP industry.
History
1992 - NCHELP’s Debt Management Committee took on the responsibility for CCI which included the task of developing a Common Claim Form (CCF).
1993 - Principles and goals were developed which included the streamlining of information required to be submitted when claim filing and for claim review.
1993 (continued) - Many discussions occurred on these issues and later from these discussions the first version of the draft CCF, Edit Table, and other documents were distributed to the industry.
1994 – A 105 page “book” containing all 293 comments and responses was shared with the industry.
1995 - The draft forms with cover letter were submitted to Department of Education (ED).
1996 – ED issued a response to NCHELP. Conference calls were held and ED voiced it’s desire to support streamlining the process and embracing an approach that would facilitate electronic data exchange and processing. It was agreed that the most efficient method of implementing these forms and processes was to utilize the Common Manual.
1998 – The Claim Form was submitted and approved for inclusion in the Common Manual. Work now begins for an electronic format to incorporate all claim filing processes that includes claim Submission, Disposition, and Payment records into the Common Account Maintenance (CAM) CCI.
2001 - OGSLP established 6/30/02 as its “G” date .“G” date being referred to as the date a guarantor is ready to exchange CCI electronic records with its trading partners (i.e. lenders and servicers).
2003 – Lenders and servicers were to begin filing claim reimbursement requests with any guarantor in the FFELP industry using the CCF.
With the implementation of CCI on 6/30/03, OGSLP still continues to work closely with its trading partners to ensure a smooth transition to CCI. We are currently receiving claim packages from some of our partners in the CCI paper format, while others continue to conduct their extensive testing of the CAM file for future implementation of the electronic CCI claim processing. However, OGSLP will NOT deny claim payments due to the submittal of claim packages without the CCI claim form.
CommonLine®
The
CommonLine Network is a process developed by the National
Council of Higher Education Loan Program (NCHELP) community of service
providers (guaranty agencies, lenders, and servicers) and schools to facilitate
the electronic processing of Federal Family Education Loans (FFELP) and Alternative
Loans. This process, which has been implemented across the country, enables
schools to communicate with a multitude of service providers, in a standardized
format, using one software product of the school's choice.
CommonLine offers flexibility by allowing schools and service providers to control their level of participation in CommonLine electronic file transfers and procedures. For example, the financial aid office of a college may choose to use CommonLine for the loan origination process while the bursar's office maintains its manual disbursement system.
Electronic Signature
The electronic-signature (e-signature) process reduces paperwork, speeds the
delivery of funds, and simplifies the education-loan process for schools, lenders
and borrowers.
An electronic signature is an electronic process or symbol that a person uses to show intent to "sign" a legal document, such as a contract or promissory note. The e-signature option allows education-loan borrowers to "sign" for their education loans online rather than by printing a promissory-note signature page, signing it in ink, and sending it through U.S. mail.
Because e-signatures reduce paper and eliminate mail time for loan applications, all parties in the education-loan process can benefit. Prior to the authorization for e-signatures, a borrower could apply for an education loan online, but the borrower still had to submit - and the lender or guarantor had to collect - a piece of paper with the borrower's "ink" signature. The e-signature method permits a completely online application process.
Click here to access more information on this service.
Meteor
The concept of Meteor began
in spring 2000 when a number of leading financial aid executives recognized
a need for a common, timely, student-specific financial aid resource. It can
now be described as the following:
Meteor is a shared effort of leading FFELP business partners who have chosen to sponsor the project
Meteor is a gift from its sponsors to the financial aid community
Meteor provides information on FFELP loans. Over time, the sponsors’ vision is that Meteor will include: Direct Student Loans, Perkins Loans, Pell Grants, State Grants and Alternative Loans.
Meteor is designed to provide the following benefits to financial aid professionals:
Ability to access timely, student-specific financial aid information from multiple sources. You will receive a list of loans for each student borrower researched.
Provide a one-stop, common, on-line customer service resource for schools
Enhance ability of participants to provide web capable products