Thebes

Higher education financing is typically provided through various sources. The cost of attendance is rarely paid entirely out of pocket and rarely covered entirely by federal grants.

Most students attending higher education institutions receive grants and loans from multiple streams, including the federal government, private banks, state grant agencies, and the school’s endowment fund. Federal loans and grants have aggregate loan limits that may span multiple years and multiple schools for a student.

A network of institutions and funding agencies utilizing the Thebes infrastructure for internal and external communications can transfer loan and grant information from one school to another when a student transfers. It can also handle the growing scenario of a student enrolled at multiple schools simultaneously.

When multiple funding agencies are connected, students will be able to submit funding requests once and have the requests routed to all applicable agencies. This will increase visibility of smaller specialized funds.

Actors:

Financial Aid Administrators: School Financial Aid Administrators (FAA) are authorized to view an enrolling student’s loan history, however they do not have credentials at other previously attended schools. Each FAA receives authorization from their school, and the schools will form a federation to accept credentials via SAML assertions across institutions.

Students/borrowers: It is a cumbersome process to ensure that the best aid is awarded and received by the schools. By implementing a network with Thebes, the student can be assured that aid is awarded correctly and any errors or over-awards can be corrected with relatively little burden on the student. Not only does the student benefit from single sign-on, they also receive the benefits of a single-submit system that will reach all lenders and granting agencies on the system.

Lenders/state grant agencies/US Department of Education/private funds: By involving the lenders and private, state and federal agencies, the lifecycle of the awards are consistent for the student. If a student re-enrolls in courses, the lenders can automatically know to give an in-school deferment. When the student finishes schools, all parties to the awards can be notified and repayment can begin when appropriate. Should a borrower default on loans, the information gained from other participants in the network can be used for skip tracing and finding the most current address and contact information for a borrower. If a student loses eligibility for funding, agencies will be informed.