The Education Department has restricted access to the National Student Loan Data System to all but students and colleges. The database contains student Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and other financial information which is protected by privacy laws.
Student loan companies are permitted — with student permission — to access the database to determine loan status and eligibility. But according to a report in the Washington Post, some loan companies have been mining the database for information in order to solicit students.
The report comes on the heels of investigations by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into alleged conflicts of interest between colleges and student loan companies. Cuomo accused student loan companies of sending student loan officers on junkets and paying kickbacks to the colleges in exchange for being promoted as “prefered lenders.”
Cuomo announced settlements today by DeVry University, Career Education Corporation and Washington University in the ongoing probe.
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