NEW: Athletic departments probed in student loan scandal
Melissa Ludwig
Express-News Staff Writer
The University of Texas at San Antonio's athletic department is one of 40 across the nation being investigated by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in the latest chapter of the unfolding student lending scandal.
Other Texas universities Cuomo is targeting are the University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas Pan American in Edinburg, Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and the University of Houston, which all have Division I sports.
Cuomo is subpoenaing the 40 schools as part of an investigation into possible kickbacks from University Financial Services, Inc. to athetics departments.
So far, Cuomo has only accused one university — Dowling College on Long Island, New York — of any wrongdoing. To the rest, he sent subpoenas seeking information about the athletic departments’ relationship with Student Financial Services Inc.
anthony de Bruyn, a spokesman for the UT System, said he could not comment on the investigation because they had not yet received the subpoenas.
According to Cuomo’s office, a revenue sharing deal between University Financial Services, Inc. and Dowling College sparked the investigation into other schools.
In the Dowling case, the school’s athletic department received $75 for each loan application staff directed to UFS, and staff put links to the lender on the department’s Web site, Cuomo said.
Dowling’s athletics director also allowed UFS to market loans to students at the university bookstore and student union, and even used department interns to hand out UFS promotional materials.
“Students trust their university’s athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team,” Cuomo said in a statement. “To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue.”
As part of a settlement with Cuomo’s office, Dowling has agreed to end its relationship with UFS.
Cuomo is also looking into athletics departments’ use of school team names, mascots, colors and logos to imply that UFS is the school’s official lender.
