PHOENIX, AZ--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 15, 2008 -- In conjunction with one of its partners, NextStudent this week began offering affordable short-term health insurance plans for recent graduates and for those between jobs, as well as student health insurance plans that offer a lower-cost, more flexible alternative to some school and parent insurance plans.

Recent graduates may no longer be eligible for coverage under their parents' health plans, and with unemployment at a five-year high and companies continuing to cut back expenses, it will likely take longer for new graduates to find jobs with health benefits. Families with children still in college may find NextStudent's student health plans offer better coverage and are more cost-effective than some school or family health plans.

"We're expanding our reach and taking on different business lines to assist our core customer base as we wait for the right time for us to re-enter the student loan market," said Jack Wallace, Executive Vice President.

At the same time that it introduced its new line of health insurance products, NextStudent also announced major changes at its corporate offices as it restructures to deal with the current state of the economy and ongoing difficulties in the student loan market.

With student loan lenders on all sides suspending their student loan programs, announcing cutbacks, and struggling to stay afloat amidst the current credit and liquidity crunch, NextStudent is maintaining a core staff of about 130 employees.

"We have to respond to what's happening right now in the student loan industry in particular and in the financial sector in general," said Wallace. "This was a rightsizing of the company. With the high-demand summer season for student loans winding down, and the current state of the credit markets making it difficult for student loan companies to continue offering federal and private student loans on a wide scale, NextStudent is launching new non-student loan products, and we're rightsizing the company to the needs of our new product lines."

Although having currently suspended both its federal and private student loan programs, NextStudent continues to pursue its company mission of providing education financing information and affordable products for students and their families.

In addition to its new line of student and short-term health insurance plans targeted at college students and recent graduates, NextStudent still features extensive resources on the company website, www.NextStudent.com, for those students and parents looking for information on student loans, along with its searchable online database of nearly 6 million scholarships, which remains absolutely free of charge for anyone to use.

"We're still a company that's focused on helping college students, graduate students, and families with children in college," said Donald Fenstermaker, President and Chief Executive Officer of NextStudent. "And that's not going to change, even if NextStudent looks a little different today than it did yesterday."

About NextStudent

NextStudent, Federal Lender Code 834051, is dedicated to helping students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college, for student needs, and for life after college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education finance counseling and a portfolio of highly competitive products and services, including a free online scholarship search engine, student health insurance, short-term health insurance, and information on parent and student loans, private student loans, and student loan consolidation programs.

     Contact:
     Jack Wallace
     Executive Vice President
     (480) 250-1992
     Email Contact