ELM Builds on Record 2005 with Strong First Quarter in 2006; Company Prepared for Sustained Growth with Recently Completed System Upgrade, More than Doubling ELM Processing Capacity.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- ELM Resources, created in 1994 as a Mutual Benefit Corporation to improve education loan processing, is today the leading education loan processing and disbursement company in the nation. After posting record results in 2005, ELM reported growth of 31% during the first quarter of 2006. With strong growth expected to continue, the recently completed upgrade to its processing system will provide the increased capacity, speed, and reliability necessary to meet the processing requirements of its school and lender customers today, and well into the future.

Fueling this growth were the addition of 265 new school customers in 2005, and 57 new schools already added during the first quarter of 2006. Among the 57 new schools added in the first quarter are Indiana State University, Ohio State University, University of Tennessee, University of Idaho, and Florida A & M. "ELM is unique in that it is a truly open and independent system that allows schools to manage the entire loan process," commented Dr. Diane Ryan, Director of Financial Aid at California State University Northridge and among the first ELM school customers. "I'm not at all surprised to see so many schools choose ELM." Thomas Ratliff, Director of Student Financial Aid at Indiana State added, "We have been extremely pleased with the ease of conversion and the improved functionality seen with our loan processing."

Maria Alvarez, Chief Operating Officer at ELM Resources commented, "It has been satisfying to see the growth as more and more schools experience the benefits that only ELM can provide as the only non-proprietary, open, and neutral education loan processing system in the country. As the word-of-mouth spreads throughout the Financial Aid Administrator community, the number of schools interested in working with ELM only increases."

Alvarez continued, "To not only keep pace with, but stay ahead of this demand and ensure that ELM exceeds service expectations, we have doubled the Priority Service Specialist staff dedicated to working with our valued school and lender customers."

Pierre Vedel, Chief Information Officer of ELM Resources added, "The increased service staff, coupled with our completion of the infrastructure upgrade that included new Oracle(TM) clustering technology and the use of storage area network (SAN), means that ELM now has the architecture and scalability required to meet our current and future customer demands. Our existing and new customers should be comfortable knowing that these upgrades will enable ELM to more than easily process the upcoming peak season volume without delay."

With a mission to achieve an open market, ELM Resources was established in 1994 as the student loan industry's only mutual benefit corporation. Through its members--lenders, guarantors, and loan servicers--ELM administers a common, open, and universal data exchange network that seamlessly links diverse computing platforms. ELM offers students and schools a single data channel, for both alternative and government guaranteed loans, regardless of which loan provider is serving the customer.

ELM Members are:

Access Group, Inc. - ACS Education Services, Inc. - AES/PHEAA - American Student Assistance - AmSouth Bank - BAC International Credit Corp. - BancorpSouth - Bank of America, N.A. - Brazos Higher Education Service - Citibank, The Student Loan Corp. - Citizens Bank - College Foundation - College Loan Corp. - Collegiate Funding Services - CollegeInvest - Connecticut Student Loan Foundation - EdFinancial Services - EDFUND - Education Assistance Service Company Inc. - Education Services Foundation - Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corp. - HSBC Bank USA, N.A. - Illinois Student Assistance Commission - Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp - JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Key Bank - MOHELA - National Student Loan Program - Nelnet - North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority - Oklahoma Student Loan Authority - PNC Bank - Sallie Mae - South Carolina Student Loan Corp. - Stillwater National Bank - Student Loan Finance Corp - Student Loan Xpress, Inc. - SunTrust Bank - Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp. - Trustmark National Bank - U.S. Bank - University of Chicago - USA Funds - Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority - Vermont Student Assistance Corp. - Wachovia Education Finance - Wells Fargo Education Financial Services - Zions First National Bank

A complete listing of ELM Affiliates and participants is available on the ELM Web site at www.elmresources.com.