GW officials are taking a closer look at the Office of Financial Aid in response to a nationwide scandal involving lenders' relationships with universities.
The student loan industry, which lends students about $85 billion per year, came under scrutiny in early February when New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating possible corrupt relationships between the companies and schools. Cuomo was especially concerned with kickbacks - deals where lenders give school officials money, stock or other benefits in return for steering students toward their companies, according to a Washington Post article.
Cuomo warned that these dishonest incentives sometimes cause schools to work exclusively with lending companies that don't offer the best terms and rates for students.
An internal investigation of GW's own student loan department was conducted in March as soon as the issue gained national attention, said Tracy Schario, director of Media Relations.
"The preliminary review found we are in compliance with all applicable law," Schario said. "The fact that we did our review in March is a good sign, especially since we did not discover any red flags."
Schario said GW safeguards against fraud through protective measures by monitoring revenue sharing and finder's fees - two practices that Cuomo said corrupts the student loan process.
"The one thing you can say about GW as a whole is that we try to be continuously aware of things of this nature," Schario said.
Following an investigation earlier this month, New York University, Syracuse University, St. John's College, Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania were all found to have received valuable rewards for pushing certain lenders, The New York Times reported.
The two largest lenders, Sallie Mae and Citibank, have agreed to no longer pay travel and entertainment expenses to college financial aid officials.
Six colleges and universities have suspended or fired their financial aid directors since the investigation began.
The student loan industry, which lends students about $85 billion per year, came under scrutiny in early February when New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating possible corrupt relationships between the companies and schools. Cuomo was especially concerned with kickbacks - deals where lenders give school officials money, stock or other benefits in return for steering students toward their companies, according to a Washington Post article.
Cuomo warned that these dishonest incentives sometimes cause schools to work exclusively with lending companies that don't offer the best terms and rates for students.
An internal investigation of GW's own student loan department was conducted in March as soon as the issue gained national attention, said Tracy Schario, director of Media Relations.
"The preliminary review found we are in compliance with all applicable law," Schario said. "The fact that we did our review in March is a good sign, especially since we did not discover any red flags."
Schario said GW safeguards against fraud through protective measures by monitoring revenue sharing and finder's fees - two practices that Cuomo said corrupts the student loan process.
"The one thing you can say about GW as a whole is that we try to be continuously aware of things of this nature," Schario said.
Following an investigation earlier this month, New York University, Syracuse University, St. John's College, Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania were all found to have received valuable rewards for pushing certain lenders, The New York Times reported.
The two largest lenders, Sallie Mae and Citibank, have agreed to no longer pay travel and entertainment expenses to college financial aid officials.
Six colleges and universities have suspended or fired their financial aid directors since the investigation began.
