I consider myself a pretty connected guy. My job and the area I call home allow me to rub elbows with a host of interesting people from presidents to plumbers. Yet with all the folks I know, so far no one, and that includes my banking friends, can unravel the mess that is college student loans. Ive even seen this conundrum perplex CFOs of Fortune 500 companies. And the worst of it is, there doesn't seem to be anyone interested in fixing it. Sounds to me like a huge opportunity for innovation. I’m a college parent tweener. By that I mean, I make enough to pay for some of my kids’ college, but too much to qualify for Federal Stafford loans. At least that’s what FAFSA tells me. FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is a required and very time consuming, mind numbing application process for all students entering and/or in college. Let me be clear: The FAFSA applications need to be filled out every year for each child who is entering or currently in college. It's a college parent’s nightmare. Don’t believe me? Go here and take a look: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. It has sort of an IRS feel with a fork in the eye affect. If you don’t have kids in college yet, just wait. This is in your future.

But I digress. Actually, I’m lucky. I have excellent credit and so and am a fine candidate to co-sign on my kids’ private loans. But that is where the luck runs out. It seems the financial service industry has taken a page from the Fed’s book and turned the student loan application process into a shark-filled debacle. They’ve created more of a shell game, one where you are required to fill out reams of application forms for each financial institution to which you’re applying before you can even obtain anything remotely close to a rate quote. And, like the FAFSA, you need to do this for each kid’s application. God forbid you have more than one kid — you can kiss off a few summer weekends, believe me.

To rub salt in my wounds, while applying at my own bank (a well-known national institution) I found that the college loan department is purposely disconnected from the personal banking department. Which means every year and for each of my kids I need to fill out duplicate forms containing all of the menial financial and personal data that my bank already has on file — address, SSN, bank acct. info, mortgage, etc. — because these two departments cannot and will not talk to each other. Both bank policy and antiquated technology are stopping this from happening. BTW, I’m not alone in this frustrating experience. According to my well-connected friends, this and worse is occurring at many national banks.

For instance, most banks have online student loan application processes where you actually have to accept the loan during the application process. This means the bank will automatically process and disperse your loan before you even know 1) if you’ve been approved, and 2) what the rate is. Requiring you to be ready to cancel any loans that you find too high, etc. This particular mode of operation seems almost criminal.

[Please note: I haven’t even discussed the outrageous student loan rates. That is a separate topic and one that is in dire need of an innovative solution. But I’ll attack one mountain at a time.]

It’s not bad enough that over the past 20 years college has become the single highest expenditure in a typical family’s lifetime (well beyond a home mortgage), keeping thousands of Americans from obtaining higher-level educations. On top of that, the FEDs have over-complicated it (no real surprise there) and the private financial service industry has made it a difficult chore rife with seamy transaction practices.

So here’s my innovation opportunity served up like a slow pitch softball. The first bank to fix these issues wins. For the sake of parents, potential students and our country as a whole, I hope someone steps up to this immense opportunity.

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