Debt Management Brochures Expand HESC’s Financial Literacy Suite of Products

The growing level of student indebtedness has created the need for more financial literacy and debt management information for borrowers. The New York Higher Education Services Corp. (HESC), the agency that helps people pay for college, is meeting the need in a variety of ways.

HESC announces the release of new brochures for student borrowers that offer credit card, budgeting, and smart-borrowing advice, along with loan repayment tools.

The Student Guide to Smart Borrowing and Your Financial Future helps students entering college get the right information to make the best decisions on borrowing money to pay for their education. The brochure includes tips and advice on understanding credit, avoiding identity theft and steps for financial success.

Paying Your Loan is Serious Business prepares students leaving college for paying back their student loans, emphasizing borrowers’ rights and responsibilities regarding student loans and the importance of keeping repayment on track to maintain good credit.

Managing Your Student Loan Debt offers help with budgeting, including loan payment and savings charts, and important contacts if making student loan payments become difficult.

The Student Guide to Smart Borrowing and Your Financial Future and Managing Your Student Loan Debt also are available in Spanish.

The brochures join a suite of financial literacy products, which include HESC’s popular Financial Awareness and Consumer Training for Students (FACTS). FACTS is a financial literacy Power Point curriculum designed to help administrators provide students with the financial information they need at this crucial point in their lives.

Presented in modules and downloadable at any time, the FACTS program is convenient for administrators and an effective learning tool for students. Each module is targeted toward a different population of students and is accompanied by speaker's notes and handouts; topics include managing credit, developing spending plans, and financial management skills.

College administrators can order publications online. The FACTS program can be downloaded anytime by visiting the HESC Web site at www.hesc.org or by contacting Pam Jerome via e-mail at pjerome@hesc.org.

About HESC
HESC is the largest in-state student loan guaranty agency and provides more grant and scholarship money to college students than any other state in the nation.

The state agency guaranteed more than $7 billion in new and consolidated student loans in state fiscal year 2005-06 and provided more than $865 million through the New York Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to nearly 395,000 students in academic year 2005-06.

HESC administers New York’s 529 College Savings Program, a nationally-acclaimed program which boasts more than $5 billion in assets and handles more than 20 state and federal grants and scholarships.