One student loan company will no longer be able to use Georgetown logos and apparel as a means of promoting their loans. The “Go Hoyas!” student loan once offered by Student Financial Services, a Florida-based student loan company, is no longer available to Georgetown students after the Dec. 11 settlement between New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the company. Cuomo accused Student Financial Services of paying 63 university athletic departments, including Georgetown, for the right to use their logos, mascots and clothing and then misleading students by acting as though the lender was affiliated with the university. “You see the school colors, you see the school logo… You think you’re dealing with the school,” Cuomo said during a Dec. 11 press conference. “Your suspicion index comes down.” Officials at Cuomo’s office said that Georgetown was one of nineteen universities that had a direct agreement in place between the university’s athletic department and Student Financial Services, according to USA Today. The other universities had more indirect agreements between marketing firms representing them and the lending company. According to Benjamin Lawsky, deputy counselor and special assistant to Cuomo, Student Financial Services has now become the first company to sign on to a revolutionary marketing code of conduct as a result of their settlement, which prevents false and misleading direct loan marketing to students, requires lenders and marketers to provide important disclosures to students in connection with loan transactions and prohibits a variety of misleading and deceptive practices. University spokesperson Julie Bataille said Georgetown was not a party to the settlement. The investigation spearheaded by Cuomo and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum into Student Financial Services began last summer when Cuomo discovered an agreement known as “revenue sharing,” a kickback program between Student Financial Services and the universities with which they had loan agreements. After further investigation, Cuomo found that for each loan application received for a given school, the loan lender would generally pay $75 to the school. In addition, Student Financial Services spent anywhere from $2,500 to 15,000 to buy out the rights to the general use of official university logos. Out of the 63 universities affiliated with Student Financial Services, 57 had NCAA Division I athletic departments, including Georgetown, Lawsky said. Bataille declined to comment on both the arrangement and how it was structured at Georgetown. The Georgetown Office of Student Financial Services referred all requests to Bataille. In his press conference, Cuomo urged Congress to pass a law outlawing these misleading lending practices completely, saying it was a widespread problem. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which passed a House committee in Nov., would eliminate “co-branding” these sorts of loans with a college’s name or logo. “Do I believe it was a deceptive practice?” Cuomo asked. “Yes.” ichael Palma, a graduate of Central Michigan University, spoke at Cuomo’s press conference, explaining how he was tricked by this student loan company. “Because they were wearing CMU clothing, giving out CMU sporting schedules, and their sign said university financial services and was in the school colors, I thought these people were from my school’s financial aid office and were merely advising me on how to save some money,” he said. “It was only later that I realized that I had been deceived.”