ACS Awarded Extension

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. won a four-year extension of its contract with the Department of Education to support the direct loan servicing system. The contract now extends through September 2007.

The performance-based contract involves upgrades to the system, which processes student loans, under a modernization program led by Accenture Ltd. of Hamilton, Bermuda. The contract has been worth about $150 million a year to ACS, said Lee Allen, a company spokesman. The direct loan servicing system provides application, payment collection, accounting and reconciliation of government-sponsored loans to students for higher education tuition payments.

The modernization process includes establishing a Web-based system that will allow borrowers and schools to conduct most of the their business transactions electronically, reducing unit costs, extending services hours and enhancing service quality.