Annual Membership Meeting
Education Finance Council’s Annual Membership Meeting brings together financial industry participants, policymakers, and higher education advocates to discuss market activity and outlook, regulatory issues, pertinent legislation, and relevant higher education issues, and features informative sessions and valuable networking opportunities for participants. It is open to members and non-members.
Event Contact: Kanishka Chauhan
When: March 19, 2026 - March 20, 2026
Where: Le Meridien St. Louis Clayton, 7730 Bonhomme Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63105
Le Meridien St. Louis Clayton
7730 Bonhomme Avenue, St. Louis, MO
EFC's room block is now closed. Hotel room reservations can still be made directly with the Le Méridien St. Louis Clayton at the published rate.
- To book online, visit here.
For those in EFC's room block, in-room internet is complimentary, and any hotel or resort fees, or other types of fees are waived. Once EFC’s room block is full, or after February 17, 2026, reservations will be accepted on a space-available basis. Please only reserve the number of rooms that you will be using as cancelling rooms on or after the cut-off date prevents other members from receiving the EFC special rate and may lead to penalties for EFC. EFC’s room block dates apply from March 17-21, 2026.
Hotel room reservations may be cancelled up to 24 hours prior to arrival without penalty. If complete cancellation of an individual reservation takes place within 24 hours of the scheduled arrival, a cancellation fee equal to one (1) night’s room revenue will be charge with the exception of a personal or medical emergency where verification can be provided. Check-in time is 4:00 PM and check-out time is 12:00 PM Central Time.
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Breakfast
7:30am - 8:30am
Welcome Remarks & EFC Update
8:30am - 8:45am
Paying for College in the Age of ROI
8:45am - 9:45am
The value of higher education has come into question, leading students and their parents to approach postsecondary decisions with sharper questions about cost and return on investment. The ways that families approach paying for college are evolving. This session will explore how families navigate savings, borrowing, and shared responsibility, as well as how those choices are shaped by debt anxiety and trust in higher education institutions.
School-Lender Partnerships in Action
9:45am - 10:45am
With more students and families relying on institutional aid and private financing, school–lender partnerships will play a key role in helping students access and manage financing responsibly. This session will explore how these partnerships can support responsible borrowing, manage financial risk, and improve student outcomes. Panelists will discuss the legal and structural guardrails that safeguard families and ensure legal compliance, in addition to the ways that institutional size and resources can shape the feasibility of these models.
Coffee Break
10:45am - 11:00am
U.S. Economic Outlook
11:00am - 11:45am
Join economist Scott McIntyre of Hilltop Securities for an analysis of the U.S. economy and its implications. The session will cover key economic trends, interest rates, inflation, and labor markets, helping attendees understand how macroeconomic forces are shaping higher education finance.
SPEAKER: Scott McIntyre, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Hilltop Securities
Luncheon
11:45am - 12:45am
Keynote: Financial Risk and Resilience in Higher Education: From Early Warning to Coherent Response
1:00pm - 2:00pm
U.S. higher education is operating in a materially different financial environment than even a decade ago, marked by enrollment volatility, rising fixed costs, constrained public investment, political scrutiny, and growing public skepticism. What was once episodic stress has become persistent risk affecting all types of institutions.
This session examines what we now know about financial risk in higher education: how it develops, how it can be identified early, and why institutional decline is far more predictable than many leaders assume. Drawing on longitudinal analysis across sectors and systems, the presentation will review common early warning indicators, recurring risk archetypes, and how financial stress propagates across academic, operational, and governance domains.
The session will also explore why traditional responses are increasingly insufficient and provide a framework for resilience through coherence. The goal is not prescription, but clarity: helping finance leaders better understand the risks they face, the limits of familiar tools, and the conditions under which real stabilization and redesign become possible.
SPEAKER: Daniel Greenstein, Ph.D., Chief of Industry Transformation, Ellucian
AI Governance and Responsible Innovation
2:00pm - 2:45pm
As AI adoption accelerates, organizations must balance innovation with risk management, regulatory compliance, and privacy concerns. This candid conversation will cover essential internal policies, data-use standards, and the role of executive and board leadership in ensuring innovation proceeds with rigor and foresight.
Snack Break
2:45pm - 3:00pm
NFPS and Graduate Student Lending: Challenges & Opportunities
3:00pm - 4:00pm
This session will examine the unique challenges and opportunities faced by nonprofit and state-based (NFP) lenders and higher education institutions in the nascent graduate student loan market. Panelists will discuss potential changes to credit underwriting standards, repayment options and terms, the lack of significant historical repayment data, evolving rating agency considerations, and the consequences for capital markets financings. Panelists will also discuss how schools are reacting to the phase-out of Grad PLUS, how some lenders are proposing to satisfy the demand for “non-traditional” credits, and how federal legislative initiatives could increase affordability for students through larger and more impactful NFP loan programs.
Managing State Regulatory Compliance
4:00pm - 5:00pm
The increasingly complex state regulatory environment is driving up compliance costs and creating significant operational challenges for organizations operating across multiple states. As loan servicing practices and reporting obligations become more state-specific, compliance teams face growing demands on expertise and resources. In this session, organizational leaders will share strategies for coordinating compliance, managing rising overhead, and mitigating the operational impact of fragmented state oversight.
Networking Reception
5:00pm - 6:30pm
EFC Hosted Dinner
6:30pm
Friday, March 20, 2026
Breakfast
7:30am - 8:30am
JEOPARDY!
8:30am - 9:30am
Join us for Jeopardy! A panel of EFC members will have their knowledge and expertise tested on higher education and several other categories. Come
and root for your colleagues in this competitive quiz challenge!
Coffee Break
9:30am- 9:45am
Implications of Recent Rulemaking Sessions and Executive Actions: Supporting Students and Borrowers Through Change
9:45am - 10:45am
Recent rulemaking, executive actions, and new loan limits will reshape how students and families navigate financial aid and enrollment decisions. This session will examine what these changes mean on the ground and how nonprofits can guide families through uncertainty. Panelists will highlight key provisions of the new rules and share practical strategies to reduce aid confusion, mitigate summer melt, and support informed enrollment decisions.
Lessons in Fraud Detection and Prevention From the Financial Services Sector
10:45am - 11:45am
Fraud is ever evolving, and so are the tools to fight it. This session will examine how financial services organizations are using AI and other technologies to detect and prevent fraud, while highlighting emerging risks and practical strategies to stay one step ahead.
Thank You and Conference Wrap Up
11:45am
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Meeting Registration Cancellation, Refund, Complaint Policy
All registration cancellation requests must be made in writing (e-mail is acceptable) to Kanishka Chauhan at [email protected]. Full refunds will be provided for cancellation requests made on or before February 17. 2026. Requests made after February 17, 2026, but before March 11, 2026, will receive a 50 percent refund, and requests made after March 11, 2026 are not eligible for a refund even if the registrant does not attend the conference. There is no cancellation fee.
For more information regarding administrative policies such as complaint, cancellation and refund, please contact Kanishka Chauhan at EFC at (202) 552-8504 or via e-mail at [email protected].