Collection Agency Glossary Maryland

The following was sourced from American Student Assistance.

Academic Year -A period of time defined for credit hour schools as a minimum of 30 weeks instructional time in which a full time student is expected to complete at least 24 semester or trimester hours, or 36 quarter hours. For a clock hour school the period of time is a minimuim of 26 weeks in which a full time student is expected to complete at least 900 clock hours.

Administrative Wage Garnishment - Process by which a guarantor, under federal law, may intercept a portion of the wages of a borrower with a defaulted FFELP loan.

Adverse Credit - A derogatory credit status which, in turn, does not meet established status criteria needed in order to approve a PLUS Loan.

Aggregate Loan Limit - The total amount of loan proceeds for which a borrower is eligible by loan and borrower type throughout the student's academic career.

Amortization - The process of gradually repaying a loan over an extended period of time through periodic installments of principal and interest.

Annual Loan Limit - The maximum loan amount that can be approved for a borrower during an academic year.

Anticipated Graduation Date - The date a student is expected to complete the academic program requirements.

Attend Code Change Report (ACCR) - A monthly report generated by ASA to inform lenders and servicers about students who have withdrawn, graduated or have ceased to be enrolled at least half-time. Lenders and servicers require this information as they need to know when to verify a student's entrance into repayment of the interest and/or principal of the loan.

Automated Clearing House (ACH) - A pre-authorized, electronic method of transferring funds between accounts.

Bankruptcy - A person who declares bankruptcy, is found to be legally insolvent and his property is distributed among his creditors or otherwise administered to satisfy the interests of his creditors. Federal student loans, however, cannot normally be discharged through bankruptcy.

Billed - Refers to FASTFUND loans. Once a loan has been approved and scheduled for disbursement, a lender is "billed" on the weekly FASTFUND invoice for the guarantee fee and the net disbursement amount of the loan. See "FASTFUND Schedule."

Borrower - A student or parent/legal guardian who, by signing the Application and Promissory Note, is legally responsible for repayment of the loan.

Bursar's Office - Bursar's Office or Student Accounts Office is the school office that is responsible for the billing and collection of student charges.

Campus-Based Aid - Federal financial aid programs that are administered by eligible schools. The federal government provides the school with a fixed annual allocation, which is awarded by the financial aid administrator to needy students. Su