NHHEAF to Transfer FFEL Guarantor Portfolio to Trellis Company

The New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) and Trellis Company (Trellis), both Guaranty Agencies under the Family Federal Education Loan program (FFEL), have announced that Trellis will assume management of NHHEAF’s FFEL guarantor portfolio, effective October 1, 2021. (NHHEAF’s parent organization, known as the NHHEAF Network, will remain a lender and servicer of FFELP loans through the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation.) The transfer of management has been approved by Federal Student Aid (FSA). Both organizations are focused on a smooth transition for borrowers.

The FFEL program, which originated in 1965, was discontinued in 2010 and replaced with FSA’s current Direct Lending program. Trellis, a nonprofit, was recently awarded a contract under FSA’s Next Gen program. The NHHEAF Network, also a nonprofit, announced in July that it would not seek or accept renewal of its federal student loan servicing contract, whose statement of work expires Dec. 31., in order to deepen its longstanding public service efforts in New Hampshire as well as enhance its nationwide education financing and borrower support through its private student loan product.