PHOENIX, AZ -- 09/15/08 --
In conjunction with one of its partners,
NextStudent this week began offering affordable short-term health insurance
plans for recent graduates and for those between jobs, as well as student
health insurance plans that offer a lower-cost, more flexible alternative
to some school and parent insurance plans.
Recent graduates may no longer be eligible for coverage under their
parents' health plans, and with unemployment at a five-year high and
companies continuing to cut back expenses, it will likely take longer for
new graduates to find jobs with health benefits. Families with children
still in college may find NextStudent's student health plans offer better
coverage and are more cost-effective than some school or family health
plans.
"We are expanding our reach and taking on different business lines to assist
our core customer base as we wait for the right time for us to re-enter the
student loan market," said Jack Wallace, Executive Vice President.
At the same time that it introduced its new line of health insurance
products, NextStudent also announced major changes at its corporate offices
as it restructures to deal with the current state of the economy and
ongoing difficulties in the student loan market.
With student loan lenders on all sides suspending their student loan
programs, announcing cutbacks, and struggling to stay afloat amidst the
current credit and liquidity crunch, NextStudent is maintaining a core
staff of about 130 employees.
"We have to respond to what's happening right now in the student loan
industry in particular and in the financial sector in general," said
Wallace. "This was a rightsizing of the company. With the high-demand
summer season for student loans winding down, and the current state of the
credit markets making it difficult for student loan companies to continue
offering federal and private student loans on a wide scale, NextStudent is
launching new non-student loan products, and we are rightsizing the company
to the needs of our new product lines."
Although having currently suspended both its federal and private student
loan programs, NextStudent continues to pursue its company mission of
providing education financing information and affordable products for
students and their families.
In addition to its new line of student and short-term health insurance
plans targeted at college students and recent graduates, NextStudent still
features extensive resources on the company website, www.NextStudent.com,
for those students and parents looking for information on student loans,
along with its searchable online database of nearly 6 million scholarships,
which remains absolutely free of charge for anyone to use.
"We are still a company that's focused on helping college students, graduate
students, and families with children in college," said Donald Fenstermaker,
President and Chief Executive Officer of NextStudent. "And that's not going
to change, even if NextStudent looks a little different today than it did
yesterday."
About NextStudent
NextStudent, Federal Lender Code 834051, is dedicated to helping students
and their families find affordable ways to pay for college, for student
needs, and for life after college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education
finance counseling and a portfolio of highly competitive products and
services, including a free online scholarship search engine, student health
insurance, short-term health insurance, and information on parent and
student loans, private student loans, and student loan consolidation
programs.
Contact:
Jack Wallace
Executive Vice President
(480) 250-1992
Email Contact
