Van Ru Top Collector on ED Contract for Q4; Total Contract Collections Near $5B

Collection agencies Van Ru Credit Corp. and Allied Interstate remained at the top of the Department of Education’s student loan collection performance rankings for large companies at the end of the fourth quarter after taking the top spots in October.

Continental Service Group led the way on the small business contract.

Van Ru, based in Des Plaines, Ill., was the top performer on ED’s unrestricted contract in over the course of the quarter. Second place was grabbed by Allied Interstate, part of New York-based global accounts receivable management firm iQor

ED’s performance scores are based on a weighted average of performance metrics, including total dollars collected, total accounts serviced and administrative resolutions. Final quarterly rankings determine bonuses and account placement levels.

Pioneer Credit Recovery, the overall leader in dollars collected and frequent winner of  monthly and quarterly performance competitions, recorded the highest collection total in the quarter with $56.6 million brought in. NCO Group was a distant second with $46.3 million collected, followed by Van Ru ($42.7 million) and Allied ($41.5 million).

On the small business set aside contract, Continental Service Group (ConServe) scored the most performance points. ConServe also had the highest dollars collected total among small businesses with $18.9 million brought in over the final three months of 2008. Account Control Technology took second place in the quarterly performance score competition.

The 17 accounts receivable management firms on the ED collection contract have taken in $4.98 billion for the Department of Education in the 46 months of the contract so far. Pioneer has brought in the most of all agencies with $654.6 million collected, while ConServe leads the small business set aside with $162.8 million collected.

The collection agencies vying for a spot on ED’s unrestricted contract finally learned their fate as the department announced collection contract awards for large companies earlier this month after a significant delay (“ED Announces Debt Collection Contract Winners in Unrestricted Category,” Jan. 9).

All 17 collection agencies that were pre-approved last year to bid on the unrestricted contract won a spot.

ED has yet to announce the contract awards for the small business set aside contract. There were nine small collection agencies approved to bid last year on the small business contract.