FAME merges with student loan authority

PHOTO / Amber Waterman Bruce Wagner, CEO of the Finance Authority of Maine.

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The Finance Authority of Maine is merging with the Maine Education Loan Authority as result of a bill signed into law by Gov. Paul LePage on Friday.

The governor’s office said Tuesday that a merger of the two agencies had been contemplated over the years. But the need became more apparent when MELA recently learned that its longtime loan servicer, Maine Education Services, is planning to discontinue its services to MELA by the end of September. Without passing a measure this legislative session, the governor’s office said thousands of Maine students may have been impacted.

“This merger will provide Maine students and their families with one-stop shopping for their higher education finance needs,” LePage said in a prepared statement. “This action unites the best of two agencies that are dedicated to serving the citizens of Maine.”

Both agencies have focused on higher education finance, with MELA offering private student loan financing and FAME guaranteeing federal student loans as well as administering the state’s various higher education loan, loan repayment, grant and savings programs.

“Merging MELA with FAME will streamline the higher education financing process for Maine families,” Bruce Wagner, FAME’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. “This merger will maintain MELA’s important private loan program while reducing borrower confusion and achieving efficiencies and cost savings.”

The bill, L.D. 1443, had received unanimous support from the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and the boards of directors for both MELA and FAME, which includes State Treasurer Terry Hayes.