This handy desk reference will help readers and their institutions develop and maintain a professional environment that will maximize efficiencies and provide the necessary skills to properly manage operations and portfolios while ensuring that students receive fair and equitable service and opportunities. Written for business officers, financial aid directors, CFOs, controllers, and collections staff, this book offers detailed guidelines on: (1) the types of charges typically billed to a student account, methods and frequency of billing, payment plans, and management policies and procedures; (2) refunding excess financial aid, assessing nonpayment penalties, handling bad debt, and similar issues; (3) how federal student loans are used, and the regulations and business processes institutions must follow to ensure compliance and fiduciary responsibility; (4) A-Z descriptions of both private and Federal loans, including the Federal Perkins Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, and Health Professions and Nursing Student loan programs; (5) debt collection tools, as well as legal options for pursuing delinquent accounts; and (6) "back office" responsibilities such as outsourcing, regulatory compliance and federal reporting, preparing for audits, and program reviews. This book offers encyclopedic detail in five critical areas: student receivables, federal student loans, private student loans, collecting educational debt, and loan and account management issues. Case studies, sample forms and documents, a glossary, and an exhaustive list of key resources make this a guide readers reference again and again. Appended are: (1) Sample Forms, Letters, and Other Documents; (2) Glossary of Terms; (3) Training and Networking; and (4) Key References and Resources. (Contains 21 tables and 2 figures.)