WASHINGTON–Credit Union Student Choice, a provider of higher education financing solutions to America’s credit unions, recently hosted the Empower U Partner Summit in Boston, which it said was the first-ever learning event in the credit union space to be focused solely on education finance. More than 60 credit union professionals from across the nation attended to learn from expert speakers and their peers about ways to leverage opportunities and overcome challenges in today’s dynamic education finance marketplace.
“This was an incredibly eye-opening event packed with fantastic information on how credit unions can play an increasingly important and beneficial role in student lending,” said Scott Patterson, Student Choice’s President. “There is a critical need to help students and families plan, prepare, and responsibly fund higher education, and to support their unique financial needs and growth following graduation. Credit unions are positioned perfectly to do just that. The presentations, networking, and idea-sharing at Empower U solidified that even further.”
The event kicked with an inspirational presentation from Callahan & Associates’ Chip Filson, and then moved into a full day of discussion on a variety of subjects, ranging from loan portfolio performance to regulatory hurdles to marketing best practices. The event also featured a keynote presentation from Seth Mattison, an expert on workforce trends and generational dynamics.
According to CU Student Choice, Initial event feedback has been exceedingly positive, with more than 83% of attendees giving the event the highest possible rating of “extremely satisfied.”
“With our diverse speaker lineup, we helped attendees address specific and timely issues in the student lending arena, such as measuring portfolio performance and understanding the regulatory landscape,” said Patterson. “Beyond that, however, we also addressed much bigger-picture items, such as connecting with millennials, understanding the broader impact of student debt on young adult borrowers, and building loyalty that fosters productive long-term relationships long after graduation. We’re already looking forward to another dynamic Empower U in 2016!”
Conference materials (including presentations and video clips) are available to all Student Choice partner credit unions via Student Choice’s client portal. Credit unions who are not Student Choice clients, but are interested in accessing conference materials, may request access at http://empoweru.studentchoice.org.
Student Choice enables credit unions of all sizes to make private education loans that are held on their own balance sheet. Since launching in 2008, the CUSO has helped nearly 250 partner credit unions originate $1.8 billion in loans to more than 70,000 borrowers.