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Georgia Higher Education Conference, March 5, 2003

Presented by:Russell Judd, Great Lakes

Educational Loan Services, Inc.

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What is MeteorWhat is Meteor• Meteor is a collaborative effort within the student

aid industry to simplify and consolidate access to student financial aid information. Sponsored by over forty industry participants, and coordinated by the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, Meteor software provides open, non-proprietary, real time access to all available aid information for a student, and consolidates it for display to students and Financial Aid Professionals.

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Meteor’s Foundation Principles

Meteor’s Foundation Principles

• Open Source

• Open Collaboration

• Freely Available

• Controlled Participation Network

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How does Meteor Work?How does Meteor Work?

Meteor uses the concepts of Access Providers and Data Providers.

• A Meteor Access Provider allows inquirers to obtain information through its web site by hosting a copy of the Meteor software, which generates the request to the Data Providers for the borrower’s information. Access providers can be Schools, Guarantors, Lenders, Servicers, or Secondary Markets.

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How does Meteor Work?How does Meteor Work?

• A Meteor Data Provider hosts a copy of the Meteor software that enables them to respond to the Access Provider’s request for information, supplying data from their system. Data Providers are typically Lenders, Servicers, Guarantors, and Secondary Markets. In the future, the Dept. of ED, State Grant authorities, Schools, and others could become Data Providers.

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Simplified Meteor ProcessSimplified Meteor Process

One

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Access Providers

Data Providers

Financial Aid Professional/Student

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Index Providers

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Meteor ArchitectureMeteor Architecture

HTTPS

Access Provider

Authenticate

XML Request

XML Response

XML Request

XML Response

DataProvider

LegacyData

Portal orWeb SiteRequest

XSLT XML

Response

IndexProvider

CustomCode

Authenticate

Authenticate

Lightweight D

irectory A

ccess Protocol (LD

AP

)

GenericRules

Engine

Meteor System

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Standards and Their Implementation

[Feb 2000]Announced (Feb 2000)

Expected

FSA

UML XML JAVA

SOAP UDDI SAML

METEOR

X X X

XPlanned

X

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AuthenticationAuthentication

• No central authentication process• Utilizes transitive trust model• Each Access Provider uses their existing

authentication model (single sign-on)• Level of trust assigned at registration

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Production StatisticsProduction Statistics

After six months of being in production…– Loan guarantee volume currently in production:

60.3%– Organizations currently testing will bring us to

63.7%– Organizations currently in development will bring

us to 69.7%

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Coming Soon…the “Super Screen”

Coming Soon…the “Super Screen”

• We need your help…– Data from all sources– Would it help?– What should be there?– How would you use it?

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Meteor SponsorsMeteor SponsorsAmerican Education Services

American Student Assistance

Bank One

Chase Manhattan

College Foundation, Inc. [NC]

College Board/College Credit Education Loan Program

Connecticut Student Loan Foundation

Educational Credit Management Corporation

Education Assistance Corporation

Education Funding Association

Florida Department of Education, OSFA

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Meteor SponsorsMeteor SponsorsGeorgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation

Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation

GuaranTec, LLP

Higher Education Student Assistance Authority

Illinois Student Assistance Commission

Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation

Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority

Key Education Resources

LoanStar Systems, Inc.

Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority

MOSTARS

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Meteor SponsorsMeteor SponsorsMontana Guaranteed Student Loan Program

National Student Loan Program, Inc.

New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation

New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation

New York State Higher Education Services Corporation

NCS Pearson

North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority

Northwest Education Loan Association (NELA)

Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program

Oregon Student Assistance Commission

Panhandle-Plains Student Loan Center

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Meteor SponsorsMeteor Sponsors

Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority

Sallie Mae, Inc.

Southwest Student Services Corporation

Student Loan Finance Association

Student Loan Guarantee Foundation of Arkansas

Student Loans of North Dakota

Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation

United Student Aid Funds

Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

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More InformationMore Information

For additional information, current status

and updates:

Click on the Meteor logo at:

www.nchelp.org