MU subpoenaed in student loan probe

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JSONLINE - WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1, 2007, 2:54 p.m.
By Don Walker

MU subpoenaed in student loan probe
The New York State attorney general's office, which has been involved in a far-reaching probe of the student loan industry, has now turned its attention to college and university athletic departments. And that includes Marquette University's athletic department.

According to the attorney general's office, Marquette was subpoenaed on Wednesday. In its request, New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo asked Marquette and 38 other universities for information on deals made with a student loan provider. Cuomo is investigating whether athletic departments at the schools agreed to promote loans made by Student Financial Services Inc., to students in exchange for kickbacks.

SFS does business as University Financial Services.

Cuomo said in a news release that his department is trying to find out if athletic departments evaluated UFS interest rates before recommending their federal loans, or if their endorsement of UFS was based purely on payments from the lender. "Such an arrangement would constitute revenue sharing, which is a violation of New York State consumer protection laws, as well as a violation of federal law," Cuomo said.

A Cuomo spokesman said Marquette was included in the list of schools because it was believed the university did business with SFS.

Marquette did not immediately respond to requests for comment. No other school in Wisconsin was served a subpoena.