Maryland’s Colleges and Universities Adopt
College Loan Code of Conduct

BALTIMORE, MD (September 6, 2007) – Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler today announced that all of Maryland’s public and private colleges and universities have voluntarily signed the “College Loan Code of Conduct.” The Code of Conduct was designed to assure parents and students that the process of researching and receiving information about student loans in Maryland is transparent and objective.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Gansler met with representatives from Maryland’s colleges and universities to outline the goals of the Code of Conduct and to hear their concerns about the financial aid process in Maryland. Working with the universities, Attorney General Gansler developed the Code of Conduct and asked all the schools to adopt it and abide by the restrictions contained in the Code.

“Determining how to finance a college education can be a challenging and often daunting task,” said Attorney General Gansler. “Parents and students at Maryland’s universities can feel confident that they are receiving the most reliable and unbiased information when seeking information about student loans. While there was no evidence that any of our schools were not operating in the best interests of students, we can now say that all of Maryland’s private and public universities have voluntarily agreed to operate under the guidelines contained in the Code of Conduct.”

Attorney General Gansler’s College Loan Code of Conduct was designed to protect parents and students from potential conflicts of interest in the student loan industry. Among the restrictions contained in the Code of Conduct, colleges and universities are prohibited from receiving anything of value in exchange for receiving any advantage sought by the lending institution. Additionally, lenders cannot pay to be placed on a school’s preferred lender list. The Code of Conduct also prohibits college employees from receiving anything of more than nominal value from any lending institution when offered in connection with the employees’ financial aid work.