Talk:Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation

Notability
Just because the author of the article claims the company is "one of the nation's largest student loan" companies, doesn't necessarily make it notable enough, IMO. I originally nominated it for speedy deletion for this reason. The references cited in the article are:

2 listings, most likely written by the company itself, for inclusion on Web sites that list company profiles. (These are the Hoover and Monster references, which are not independent sources in the true sense as the listings come from the company itself, and, in some cases, the company could even have paid for them to be included). 2 press releases. One of which clearly states it was released by the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation itself; the other, in the Entrepreneur reference, may or may not have been supplied by the company itself, but it could have. 1 reference to their own external Web site.

This means that there's possibly one independent reference about the company. Nothing about that one reference or the information in the article indicates sufficient notability, in my opinion. Are there any additional, truly third-party references? Hananekosan (talk) 01:43, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Padding removal -- April 2010
I edited the article to remove an unneeded ref to a nn profile page on Monster.com, a pretty callous-sounding promotional quote by the CEO and an unimportant "first" sourced to a brief in an industry pub. I didn't remove the grant info sourced to press releases, but the statements would be stronger if it was sourced to legitimate news reporting. Flowanda | Talk 02:48, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

Suggested edit: More information on page
This page doesn't have a whole lot of content. I would like to suggest beefing it up a little bit to include more about Great Lakes' history, lines of business, and philanthropic work.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am an employee of Great Lakes. I did my best to remain neutral. Most of the links are back to our website--I wasn't able to find many third-party references. I understand that my proposed content, if approved, will likely be heavily edited.

Founded in 1967, Great Lakes Higher Education is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Madison, WI, with nearly 1,900 employees and operating centers across the country. As one of the largest student loan servicers and guarantors in the country, Great Lakes services over $210 billion in federal Direct student loans for over 8 million borrowers and guarantees nearly $32 billion in Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans. As a loan servicer, the company processes payments and handles customer service to student loan borrowers on behalf of lenders, including the U.S. Department of Education. The company also works with over 6,000 schools and 1,000 lenders nationwide.

History

Great Lakes was established in 1967, originally under the name Wisconsin Higher Education Corporation, to serve as the state of Wisconsin’s student loan guarantor. In 1988, the company's name was changed to Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation as recognition of its expansion into markets beyond Wisconsin, beginning with Ohio and Michigan.

Lines of Business

In addition to servicing loans, Great Lakes offers tools for borrowers, schools, and lenders.
 * Portfolio Navigator is a portfolio management and targeted outreach tool that helps schools connect students to resources that help them manage repaying their student loans.
 * FASTChoice™ is offered to schools and provides support and guidance to student loan borrowers as they complete private student loan counseling and select a private lender.
 * ScholarNet® automates the online exchange and management of private student loan data.
 * Central Disbursement Service simplifies processes to manage private loan disbursements.

Philanthropy

The company's philanthropy focuses on increasing readiness, access, and success in higher education, particularly among traditionally underserved students (e.g., students of color, students from low-income households, and first-generation college students). Great Lakes provides services, funds research, makes grants, and forms strategic partnerships with others who share this mission, and has given over $130 million through philanthropic efforts as of August 2015.

External Links Official Borrower Website Official School Website Official Philanthropy Website

Lindselita (talk) 13:52, 26 August 2015 (UTC)