15 Apr 2009

Harvard University Secures New Source of Funding for International Graduate and Professional Students

Agreement with Harvard University Employee Credit Union increases accessibility to loans without U.S. resident as co-signer
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BOSTON — Harvard University and the Harvard University Employees Credit Union today announced a partnership that will make Credit Union loans available to international graduate and professional students.

This is the second time in two months that the University has secured a new source of funding after major lenders withdrew from the market for international student loans late last year.

In February, Harvard signed an agreement with JPMorgan Chase to provide its approximately 3,300 international graduate and professional students access to private education loans without requiring a co-signer. International students at Harvard College are eligible for the College's separate financial aid program.

"Our overall objective is to ensure that a Harvard graduate education remains accessible to talented students regardless of where they live," said Dan Shore, Harvard's chief financial officer. "The agreement with the Harvard Credit Union, combined with the recently completed agreement with JPMorgan Chase, creates multiple lending options for our international graduate and professional students at a time of significant uncertainty in the global credit markets."

In the past, only a handful of lenders provided loans to students from abroad without requiring them to find a US resident who was willing to co-sign the loan. When the financial markets began to fall last year, even those lenders declined to provide such loans, casting uncertainty on the plans of anyone from abroad interested in pursuing an advanced degree on a US campus.

The agreement with the Credit Union expands the pool of available funds and similarly does not require a co-signer. The Credit Union also will offer private loans to domestic students enrolled in graduate and professional programs at Harvard.

"We are pleased to be able to offer assistance to Harvard students from abroad," said Eugene Foley, president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union. "We also welcome the opportunity to begin providing loans to the broader population of graduate and professional students who study at Harvard."

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.