Georgia Student Finance Commission Announces

New Chief Operating Officer

The Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) today announces the appointment of Jerome Duran as its Chief Operating Officer. 

GSFC administers 9 scholarship and grant programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship.  GSFC also originates, funds, and services 15 different low interest/0% interest loan programs including Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans, consolidation loans, and State- and Lottery-funded service-cancelable loans for study in critical need fields; and issues FFELP loan guarantees. 

Mr. Duran, formerly an Associate at the Atlanta based consulting firm of Draper & Associates, as COO will succeed both the Director of the Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA) and the Director of the Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation (GHEAC) in a consolidation of all GSFC operations.   Mr. Duran has advised the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget and the Georgia Institute of Technology on matters of budget and capital planning. 

“I believe GSFC has the dedicated staff necessary to fulfill its mission of providing higher education financial aid services to the students and parents of Georgia and to meet the challenge of integrating its guaranty services, lending services, and scholarship & grants into a seamless and efficient organization.“ 

GSFC recently announced both a borrower benefits package with some of the lowest origination fees in the industry and waiving of its guaranty fee; these two efforts will combine to save students and parents a combined total of $3,250,000 dollars in the coming school year. 

GSFC disburses $700,000,000 in student financial aid to over 317,000 students each year in over 115 State and Private Colleges and Universities in Georgia.  For the sixth consecutive year, Georgia led the nation in non-need based student financial aid for undergraduate study, awarding $360.7 million.  And once again, Georgia was number one in the percentage of full-time undergraduate students receiving State-financed grants and scholarships, with 73.4% receiving such aid. 

Mr. Duran received his undergraduate degree in engineering and his M.B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.   Jerome, his wife, Kris, and their two children reside in Smyrna, GA. 

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