HESC Colleague NewsletterSpring 2009  

HESC Marketplace Debuts

Kathy Crowder

HESC’s Student Loan Marketplace has processed and completed its first alternative student loan, and is now available to students. This dynamic, interactive Web site provides the first transparent, online information and comparison service for alternative student loans.


HESC Marketplace enables students seeking a private education loan to compare the terms of loan products from multiple lenders, based upon the borrower’s credit profile, with only one credit check. The service educates students and their parents about good borrowing practices and helps students make decisions based on accurate information, not “as-low-as” advertised offers. After submitting a simple personal information form, students may immediately view and sort a list of detailed loan terms and pricing for which they are prequalified – comparing up to three products at a time side-by-side – before making a decision.

Students and their parents can get help planning for college costs at the HESC Student Loan Marketplace Learning Center. Borrowers are advised to exhaust all grant, scholarship, and federal loan possibilities before applying for an alternative loan. The information on financial aid, tips on budgeting, and strategies for financial management help our students make smart borrowing decisions.

HESC Marketplace also helps protect consumers’ credit scores. Because a consumer’s credit score can be impaired if several lenders obtain a credit report in response to the consumer submitting several applications, it is difficult to shop for loans. By only using one credit check to match loan terms for all participating lenders, HESC Marketplace will eliminate the “shopping penalty” and help protect students’ credit scores.

To help schools inform students about HESC Marketplace, HESC has produced a small informational flyer that can be used as an insert in the brochure Student Guide to Smart Borrowing and Your Financial Future as well as in financial aid award letters. A pdf copy is also available for electronic award notices.

HESC thanks participants in the initial controlled launch:

  • College of Saint Rose
  • Marymount Manhattan
  • Sarah Lawrence College
  • SUNY Oswego

Overture Technologies provides the software engine for HESC Student Loan Marketplace.

Turn to HESC.org for additional information about HESC Student Loan Marketplace.