History
Make affordable financing more accessible to graduate students |
The history and growth of Access Group revolve around one basic idea: make affordable financing more accessible to graduate students.
This idea first took shape as the "Law School Assured Access Program." Under the direction of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), this program initially provided financial access to ABA-approved law schools, offering two federally-guaranteed educational loans. (This is now known as the Federal Stafford Loan program.)
As tuition and living expenses rose in the following years, it became apparent that the federally-guaranteed loans were inadequate to cover all of a student's expenses. In response to these rising expenses, LSAC created a private loan program, the Law Access Loan (LAL), to supplement the federally-guaranteed loans. In 1993, the program was incorporated as a separate nonprofit organization, Law Access, Inc.
Since then, we have increased our commitment to make affordable financing more accessible to graduate students. We have expanded our private loan program to include the Business Access, Medical Access, Dental Access, Graduate Access, and Health Access loans. Beyond our loan programs, we have designed services and materials specifically for schools and students in the graduate/professional community.
To reflect our diverse and growing suite of programs and services, Law Access, Inc. began doing business as The Access Group, and in 1997, we officially changed the name to Access Group, Inc. As Access Group, Inc., we continue to develop new strategies and services to meet the needs of schools and students.
Our goal is still the same: to provide greater access to affordable financing, and greater access to the information that can help students borrow wisely, manage debt responsibly, and repay loans successfully. |