Welcome and President’s Report Presented by: Mary Heid and James Bergeron NCHER Legislative Conference February 5, 2018

Strategic Plan for 2018-2020 Last year, the Board began a strategic planning process, focused on measuring NCHER’s value proposition and growing the membership over the next three to five years In December, the Board approved a new Strategic Plan for 2018-2020

Strategic Plan – New Mission “The Mission of NCHER is to provide superior advocacy, communications, research, and operational support to its members so they may effectively help students and families develop, pay for, and attain their educational goals so they can pursue meaningful and rewarding work and become contributing members of society.”

Strategic Plan – New Goals   Ensure that NCHER is a trusted, active, and credible resource and advocate for its members, federal and state policymakers, and other higher education stakeholders so it can effectively influence the legislative and regulatory processes Deploy a communications strategy that promotes the successful work of the NCHER members’ services on behalf of students and families, consistent with the advocacy agenda

Strategic Plan – New Goals Provide more effective and efficient high-quality support and professional development to members, including sharing of best practices in support of the NCHER members’ services that assist students, families, and borrowers in accessing and completing postsecondary education Engage and collaborate with our higher education partners on matters of mutual interests while continuing to promote and create membership services that are unique to NCHER

Strategic Plan - Strategies Advocacy Add part-time staff to help formulate policy positions* Ask members to play a larger role in advocacy* Review dues structure/request special assessment Recruit new members to join NCHER* Find Republican and Democratic “Champions”* Create a database/clearinghouse of program information to demonstrate services add value* Collect borrower-friendly stories from members* Update research priorities

Strategic Plan - Strategies Communications Create Communications Committee to guide activities* Create contact list of designated press person* Streamline the Daily Briefing to free up staff time* Proactively push out positive stories, members share issue pieces with NCHER Develop calendar of events* Work with outside organizations that support message Maintain policy of not accepting bad actors into NCHER*

Strategic Plan - Strategies Professional Development Examine committee/caucus calls to reduce length and frequency to free up staff time* Create a new leader/mentoring program to recruit new subject matter experts into the industry* Videotape key conference sessions* Hold a leadership conference/CEO roundtable Engage and Collaborate Continue to hold monthly/quarterly meetings with partners* Invite like-minded associations to relevant conferences

NCHER Advocacy Priorities for the 115th Congress, 2nd Session

Making Smart Postsecondary Education Decisions Encourage states/institutions to provide face-to-face financial education and counseling services to students, borrowers, and families Strengthen existing entrance and exit counseling Promote the use of 529 plans

Improving Federal Student Aid Programs Simplify and streamline the myriad of student loan repayment plans Dramatically reduce the number of questions on the FAFSA Provide authority to financial aid administrators to lower annual and aggregate student loan limits Cap the amount parents can borrow under the PLUS Program

Expanding Access to Loan Rehabilitation Allow defaulted borrowers to rehab their student loans more than once under certain circumstances Preserving Account Maintenance Fees Oppose the elimination of AMF in any budget agreement, and authorize the continued payment of AMF

Providing an Orderly Wind-Down of the Federal Guaranteed Program Provide just-in-time reinsurance payments to facilitate cash flow into the Federal Fund Remove the 45% cap on recoveries through Federal Consolidation Loans Develop a specific process for those guaranty agencies interested in relinquishing their FFELP portfolios, and the criteria and process the Department will use when selecting successor agencies

Promoting Better Loan Servicing for Borrowers Ensure the upcoming student loan servicing procurement includes the participation of multiple service providers and has meaningful and sustainable opportunities for state and nonprofit organizations to help struggling borrowers Create a Common Manual to improve the consistency of servicing for borrowers

Promoting Better Loan Servicing for Borrowers Ensure federal law and contractual requirements preempt state and local rules that impact federal student loan servicing Allow servicers to have access to the National Directory of New Hires so they can locate struggling borrowers to provide counseling on repayment options

Combatting Debt Relief Scams Designate a single federal agency to coordinate efforts against student loan debt relief scams and refer information to federal and state law enforcement for necessary action Maintain a list of third-party debt relief companies and work with technology providers to eliminate fraudulent advertisers Require federal student loan servicers to identify and track scams and report them

Promoting the Availability of Private Education Loans Remove preferred lender list restrictions Mandate that Direct Loan borrowers receive accurate disclosures of the costs of their loans Permit private lenders to remove the default record upon the rehabilitation of a private loan

Promoting Tax-Exempt Financing (non-HEA) Support H.R. 480, the “Student Loan Opportunity Act” to update Section 150(d) Clarify IRS guidance on refunding bonds Eliminate the state volume cap on private activity bonds while preserving tax-exempt financing of education loans

Leveraging Technology to Help Struggling Borrowers (non-HEA) Urge the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its final rules and strike a more appropriate balance between protecting consumers and allowing reasonable and responsible use of dialer technology to reach borrowers on their cell phones to provide them with needed assistance