Millions of citizens and businesses receive over $310 billion in federal loans each year—either directly from the federal government or through banks that issue federally guaranteed/insured loans. Prior to the eLoans initiative, there was no single source on the Web for federal loan program information. As a result, citizens had to navigate through an enormous amount of information to find the federal loan programs that best meet their needs. For example, an Internet search on “federal loans” results in over one million links to private sector and government web sites.
In response to this problem, five of the major federal credit agencies (U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) came together as a team (with support from citizens and the private sector) to create a single point of access for federal loan program information on the Web, GovLoans.gov. Launched in April 2004, www.GovLoans.gov is a “plain speak” Web site that educates citizens on the federal loan programs and directs them to the best available loan program information at government and private sector Web sites.
In addition to the GovLoans.gov, the eLoans team has also identified ways to improve back-office loan functions that may be transparent to the citizen, but still greatly impact customer service. These back-end processes include improving the way lenders report to the government, how the government manages default and lender performance data, and how the government receives payments from lenders.
The E-Loans initiative will help citizens to benefit from a more transparent and citizen-focused federal loan experience. Not only will they have quicker and easier access to federal loan program information on the Web, but they may also benefit from lower costs and faster service overall as a result of the coordinated efforts of the E-Loans partners. |