EduCap Inc., a nonprofit student-loan company that is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and key U.S. senators, will scale back its lending operation, a spokesman for the company told The Chronicle this afternoon.
The spokesman, George C. Pappas, said that EduCap, which makes private loans to students under the name Loan to Learn, was restructuring “due to the uncertainties in the student-loan industry and financial markets.” He said the company would continue to service existing loans.
“We want to assure the tens of thousands of people who have loans with EduCap that they will experience no changes in the handling of their loans,” he said.
Mr. Pappas said the company would continue to make loans, but would reduce the size of its operation. He declined to elaborate further.
The company’s announcement followed by two weeks an article in The Washington Post that detailed lavish spending by the nonprofit company, including the purchase of a $30-million Gulfstream jet. The Post also reported that EduCap’s philanthropic arm, the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, had donated millions of dollars to a nonprofit foundation run by Ms. Reynolds’s husband.
The article sparked an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee into whether EduCap had abused its tax-exempt status. On July 23 the committee’s leaders sent a letter to Ms. Reynolds asking for documents explaining how EduCap sets loan rates, approves customers, and spends its money. The letter also requested copies of all correspondence with the Internal Revenue Service over the last 10 years.
The IRS is also examining EduCap’s business practices, though the precise nature of that inquiry is unclear. Company officials said the restructuring was “unrelated” to the investigations.
The investigations are not the first time that EduCap has come under scrutiny. Last year the United States Students Association filed a complaint against EduCap with the Federal Trade Commission, accusing the company of engaging in deceptive marketing practices. The commission announced in June that it would not take action because nonprofit groups do not fall under its jurisdiction. —Kelly Field