USA Funds Selects SimpleTuition to Provide Student Loan Comparison Tools for Financing Higher Education

INDIANAPOLIS and NEWTON, Mass., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- USA Funds, the nation's leading education loan guarantor, has selected SimpleTuition, Inc., a company dedicated to helping students and parents make sense out of education financing choices, to assist the nation's college students in comparing student loan terms and selecting affordable options for paying college costs. The two organizations today announced an agreement that will add SimpleTuition.com, a proven comparison tool for federal and private student loans, to USA Funds' suite of services for students, parents, and financial aid administrators.

"Nearly 3,200 lenders participate in the federal student loan program, so students and parents currently face a complex array of loan options and terms," said USA Funds President and CEO Carl Dalstrom. "SimpleTuition.com simplifies the process of selecting a loan by dynamically generating a comparative list of loan options based on information supplied by the user. USA Funds' support of SimpleTuition also will help college financial aid offices comply with new federal regulations governing college-recommended lender lists."

A nonprofit corporation, USA Funds links colleges, universities, private career colleges, private lenders, students and parents to promote financial access to higher education. Last year, USA Funds helped more than 1.7 million students and parents pay higher education expenses by supporting nearly $25.8 billion in federal loans. As the nation's largest guarantor of federal education loans, USA Funds also helps college financial aid administrators by supporting the leading technology, training and debt management tools in the student loan program. By partnering with SimpleTuition, USA Funds now offers financial aid administrators the most comprehensive set of resources for students and parents to research and select the education loan that best suits their individual needs.

SimpleTuition provides an online resource to help families compare, analyze and apply for student loans. After answering a few quick questions, SimpleTuition provides a list of student loans to support an individual's need. Results can be sorted by monthly payment, total cost of the loan, number of payments, first payment due date and APR, and results contain detailed information about loan pricing, borrower benefits and other attributes. SimpleTuition is not a lender.

"Together, SimpleTuition and USA Funds are providing financial aid offices across the United States with important tools to help students, parents and schools with the often confusing process of selecting student loans," said Kevin Walker, CEO of SimpleTuition, Inc. "USA Funds shares our vision that that process should be easier for families to navigate. We look forward to working USA Funds to help students and parents make informed education borrowing choices."

SimpleTuition's Student Loan Comparison tool will be accessible directly from the USA Fund website at www.usafunds.org. Additionally, as USA Funds continues to assist financial aid professionals at various institutions, SimpleTuition will customize USA Funds-sponsored websites for federal student loan search and comparisons tailored to each school's needs.

About USA Funds.

USA Funds(R) is a nonprofit corporation that works to enhance postsecondary-education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services. Established in Indianapolis in 1960 to help families finance rising college costs, USA Funds has grown to become the nation's largest guarantor of federal student loans. During the past 47 years, the USA Funds guarantee has supported a total of nearly $154 billion in financial aid for higher education. USA Funds has served 18.2 million students and parents, as well as thousands of educational and financial institutions. In addition, USA Funds serves as the designated guarantor of federal education loans in eight states: Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.usafunds.org.

About SimpleTuition, Inc.

Founded in 2005, SimpleTuition is dedicated to helping students and parents make sense of education financing options. SimpleTuition offers the leading independent and interactive solution for researching and comparing over 100 private, PLUS, Stafford, GradPLUS and Federal Consolidation loans from more than 45 lenders. The site has been recently featured on Kiplinger's Best List as the best financial services website for student loans and as one of Fast Company's Top 12 Web 2.0 sites. The company also holds awards for exceptional website development from the Interactive Media Council and the Web Marketing Association. SimpleTuition is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts and is funded by Atlas Venture, IDG Ventures Boston and North Hill Ventures. For more information, visit www.SimpleTuition.com.