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Established in 1956, American Student Assistance® (ASA) is a nonprofit, federally funded organization whose mission is to help college students and their families manage higher education debt. Through proactive education, guidance, and counseling, we provide borrowers with neutral federal student loan solutions throughout their entire loan experience.

In addition to our debt management services, we also serve:

• The U.S. Department of Education, with student loan default prevention and recovery services that save the government and taxpayers millions.
• College financial aid administrators, with default prevention support, training, and regulatory guidance.
• Education loan lenders, with delinquent loan recovery and default prevention services.
• The community, with general information about borrowing for college.

ASA provides service to nearly 1.6 million college loan borrowers, manages a guarantee loan portfolio worth more than $40 billion, and employs more than 400 associates nationwide.

ASA offers a yearlong leadership development program, The Arnie Sammis Leadership Development Academy, which is open to all associates. Approximately 30 associates apply every year, and 12-16 candidates are accepted, based on their work performance, application essay, recommendations, and an interview. Past and present academy cadets are a diverse group, with some members originally from Lebanon, Vietnam, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, Venezuela, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan. In addition to their own development, the cadets give back to ASA through special projects. ASA's annual Volunteer Day event, now in its 5th year, was developed by Leadership Academy cadets. Our Employee Recognition Program offers mechanisms to effectively recognize, communicate, and reward associates who provide exemplary performance and/or meet specified targets. These programs are intended to reward staff associates whose achievements have resulted in a particular benefit to the company.