At Bentley University, the Office of Financial Assistance and its staff are committed to adhering to the highest ethical and professional practices. We have adopted the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Statement of Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Institutional Financial Aid Professionals. Additionally, we have adopted the following guidelines as outlined by the Title IV Loan School Code of Conduct.
- Employees shall not solicit or accept any gift having a monetary value of more than a nominal amount from a lender, guarantor, or servicer. Certain items are not considered gifts, such as training materials, meals at training events, and philanthropic contributions not related to student loans. Employees may also be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in serving on an advisory board, commission, or group.
- Employees shall not enter into any revenue sharing arrangement with any lender where the lender provides or issues a loan to the student or student’s family in exchange for the school recommending the lender or the lender’s loan products in exchange for a fee or material benefit including profit or revenue sharing that benefits the school or a school’s employee or agent.
- Employees shall not accept from any lender or affiliate of any lender, any fee, payment, or other financial benefit (including the option to purchase stock) as compensation for any type of consulting arrangement or other contract to provide services to a lender or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans.
- The University shall not request or accept funds from any lender for private education loans including funds for an opportunity pool loan to its students in exchange for the school providing promises of a specified loan number or volume or a preferred lender arrangement for educational loans.
- Employees shall not assign, through award packaging or other methods, a first time borrower’s loan to a specific lender or refuse or delay processing of a loan of the borrower’s selected lender or guarantor.
- Employees shall not accept or request assistance with call center or financial aid office staffing from any lender except as allowed by law.