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

2. Strategic Plan for
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

3. 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.”

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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*

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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