ICA ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH TOP EDUCATION LENDING FIRM

Services to benefit ICA members with tuition payment and loan repayment needs!

ARLINGTON, VA - October 4, 2002 - The International Chiropractors Association (ICA), the world's oldest international chiropractic professional organization, is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Academic Management Services, one of the nation's leading education lenders and payment plan providers. Together with AMS, ICA can now offer enhanced education lending and counseling services to its thousands of members, many of whom are still in chiropractic school or face years of repaying school loans. On average, chiropractic professionals can amass $45,000 to $100,000 in education loan debt before entering practice, revealing a critical need for responsible loan management solutions. AMS will serve the chiropractic profession through its Professions Group, a specialized unit that serves the complex needs of professionals.

"In today's complex and competitive marketplace, chiropractic students and practitioners alike need to take advantage of every possible means of reducing their interest burden and minimizing the bite student loan repayment can take out of your practice income stream," said ICA Executive Director Ronald Hendrickson. "ICA and AMS have teamed up to offer the best, most competitive and most flexible programs to assist the DC, both new and established in practice, to take advantage of record low interest rates and to structure repayment in a responsible but favorable way."

For students, AMS provides the TuitionPay Stafford Loan, a federally guaranteed student loan. The TuitionPay Stafford offers money-saving benefits that could save typical chiropractor borrowers as much as $18,000 in reduced fees, interest rate reductions and more:

  • Personal Investment Account, funded with the 3% origination fees charged at disbursement. Upon graduation, these funds are returned to the borrower in three installments and placed into an investment account that the borrower can manage according to his or her own needs: as cash, as a cushion for future payments, as a savings account, or as a nest egg for retirement.

  • 0% interest for the first year: Unsubsidized Stafford borrowers can save as much as $2,700 by not having to pay interest on their first-year loan.

  • 0.75% interest rate reductions: AMS will lower interest rates by 0.25% for borrowers who pay by automatic withdrawal, and by 0.50% after 36 consecutive on-time payments.

  • NO guarantee fees: Borrowers can save up to an additional $1,500 because AMS only works with guarantee agencies that waive this fee.

For students who need to supplement other forms of financial assistance, alternative (private) loans also are available, including the AMS ChiroLoan and the TuitionPay Diploma Loan for Health Professions.

After graduation, AMS will offer Education Loan Management Counseling to ICA constituents, a personalized approach to developing smart loan repayment strategies. A popular feature is the TuitionPay Consolidation Loan, which combines all a borrower's outstanding federal education loans into one, lowering monthly bills as much as 53%, locking in a low fixed interest rate, and extending the repayment term if needed.

For instance, a chiropractic professional who graduates with $100,000 in student loan debt faces monthly payments of $1,015*. With consolidation, those monthly payments can be lowered to $485 a month or more-savings of more than $500. Since most newly licensed chiropractic professionals earn $35,000 to $50,000 the first year in practice, the savings offered by consolidation are an important factor in post-graduation success. (*All figures are based on interest rates as of October 5, 2002.)

"We're very pleased to offer these savings and benefits to ICA members," said Ned Philie, Senior Vice President of Business Development at AMS Professions Group. "The chiropractic community is a vital part of America's health care community, and it makes sense to offer them financial strategies that ease the burden of a lengthy education and practice start-up costs."

About AMS Professions Group
AMS, headquartered in Swansea, Massachusetts is one of the nation's largest providers of integrated payment solutions for higher education and private school tuition. Since 1970, AMS has helped more than 5 million families pay for education. AMS offers the chiropractic profession the services of an outstanding team of skilled advisors and counselors who are regularly available via the phone or on the web, and always on top of the best ways and means by which chiropractic borrowers can address their debt management needs. No other lending organization in chiropractic has the breadth and depth of skill and expertise in this area, so readily available to meet the student and the doctor's needs. AMS Professions Group is on the Web at www.amsloans.tuitionpay.com

About ICA
The International Chiropractors Association, headquartered in Arlington, VA, is the oldest continually functioning international chiropractic organization in the world. Established in 1926 by B.J. Palmer, the ICA represents thousands of practitioners, educators, students and lay persons dedicated to the chiropractic profession. The ICA brings together professionals with common goals and backgrounds and provides them with benefits and services to enhance their personal growth and professional development. It also represents and promotes the interests of chiropractors and the patients they serve through advocacy, research and education.

AMS Contact:
Ned Philie
Sr. Vice President
508-235-2839
nphilie@amsweb.com

ICA Contact
Ronald M. Hendrickson
Business Development Executive Director
1-800-423-4690
chiro@chiropractic.org