About Mary Lyn Hammer

Ms. Mary Lyn Hammer is a seasoned education advocate, and the entrepreneurial founder, president and CEO of Champion College Services. Her belief that education is the vehicle for making dreams come true has led her into a life-long passionate fight, beginning in 1987, rectifying problems in the higher education industry to ensure future participation for all students. During her career in higher education, she has touched more than 3 million students’ lives through her companies and advocacy. Ms. Hammer’s company Champion College Solutions offers default prevention for federal and private student loans, job placement verification, skip tracing, consulting services, and custom surveys for students, alumni, and employers.

Her accomplishments include numerous state, regional, and national awards and recognitions over the years in both the higher education industry and in professional business arenas. She has participated in training sessions and workshops for numerous state, provincial, regional, national, and private associations in both the U.S. and Canada in a continued effort to share her experiences and knowledge. Ms. Hammer has had several hundred articles published in numerous higher education magazines.

Ms. Hammer’s experience specific to the contents included in the special report, Injustice for All, include the following:

• 1988–1989 Hammer turned evidence over to Congress and the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) and testified numerous times regarding a student lending corruption ring in California that put several companies out of business and cost the government an estimated $750 million to rectify.
• 1989 Her innovative “Hands On” Default Management Program was recognized by the USDOE for its remarkable results and was used as the basis for default management in what became known as “Appendix D.” Ms. Hammer was active in aiding the USDOE in drafting regulatory language for default management that was mandatory for high default rate schools from 1989 until 1996 and still exists today in rewritten regulations under “Subpart M” and “Subpart N.”
• 1990–1993 As part of several laws affecting higher education and cohort default rates, Ms. Hammer helped draft statutory and regulatory language for cohort default rate appeals.
• 1993–1995 Hammer helped draft the Cohort Default Rate Guide and several revisions thereof.
• 1994–1998 Hammer worked with Congressional members on school-based loan issues and cohort default rate matters that became statutory language in the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
• 1999 She served as an alternate negotiator for school-based loan issues in the 1999 Negotiated Rulemaking.
• 2000 She served as a primary negotiator for school-based loan issues in the 2000 Negotiated Rulemaking. The original default management regulations under “Appendix D” were rewritten into “Subpart M” in addition to other loan issues.
• 2002–2008 Hammer worked with Congressional members on school-based loan issues and cohort default rate matters. Although she was opposed to increasing the cohort default rate definition, she was instrumental in correcting what was originally written as a 4-year CDR definition to a 3-year CDR definition and helped draft the increased threshold and appeal rights for sanctions under the new definition.
• 2009 She served as a primary negotiator for Loan Issues—Team 2 and provided expert witness testimony for Team 1 Loan Issues. Default management regulations were written into “Subpart N” for the 3-year CDR definition along with conforming language for appeals in addition to other loan issues.
• 1988–2014 Hammer has testified many times at Congressional and USDOE hearings and has worked closely with Congressional members, education committee professional staff, and key staff at the USDOE on many issues during her career to ensure program integrity and access to quality higher education for at-risk students.

Ms. Hammer has been elected four times to the Board of Directors for the Career College Association, now known as APSCU, and she is the Charter Member, former Chairwoman for the Higher Education Allied Health Leaders (HEAL) Coalition, and has served as an Advisory Board Member for the Career Education Review. Additionally, she currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Private Career Colleges and Schools (PCCS, 3rd term) Regions XIII, IX & X and for the Northwest Career College Federation (NWCCF, 16th term), as Director of the Board for Champion for Success (a nonprofit mentoring and advocacy for at-risk kids), and on the Board of Directors for eMed, a medical research center for Chinese medicine.

Injustice for All, has been compiled and published to provide us with detailed evidence on corruption in education reporting to protect the future of our country.

Ms. Hammer is the Owner, Founder, President and CEO of CHAMPION COLEDGE SOLUTIONS . Champion offers default prevention for Federal and private student loans, job placement verification, skip tracing, consulting services, and custom surveys for students, alumni, and employers. She specializes in staff training, program development, and default prevention operations. She has participated in training sessions and workshops for numerous state, provincial, regional, national, and private associations in both the U.S. and Canada in a continued effort to share her experiences and knowledge.

Her accomplishments include numerous state, regional, and national awards and recognitions over the years in both the higher education industry and in professional business arenas. Ms. Hammer has had several hundred articles published in numerous higher education magazines over the years.

Ms. Hammer has been elected four times to the Board of Directors for the Career College Association, now known as APSCU, and she is the Charter Member and former Chairwoman for the Higher Education Allied Health Leaders (HEAL) Coalition. Additionally, she currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Private Career Colleges and Schools (PCCS, 3^rd term) Regions XIII, IX & X and for the Northwest Career College Federation (NWCCF, 16^th term) and on the Advisory Board for the Career Education Review.

From the inception of the Imagine America Foundation, Ms. Hammer has been a top sponsor of this non-profit organization that has awarded over $75 million in scholarships and awards to career college and university students.  The Foundation also sponsors critical research that elevates the public’s understanding of the vital role of career colleges and their students nationwide.  In June 2013, Ms. Hammer sponsored a Kool and the Gang fundraising concert for IAF and the students they serve.

A non-profit organization

Mission Statement: CHAMPION FOR SUCCESS, Inc. upholds its mission to provide sustainable mentoring, empowerment, training, education, and events that facilitate the creation and expansion of healthy life skills and experiences that result in thriving careers, healthy life choices, and community engagement.

Founder Mary Lyn Hammer has been mentoring college students through her company for 30 years.  Her personal vision was to take this knowledge to young adults to help them make good informed decisions before entering college and to provide support in the transition from training and education into the workforce.

CHAMPION FOR SUCCESS has been in development for several years and will feature numerous training options through community participation that include mentorship training, life skills, and practical skills that lead to personal, work and financial success.

The company will seek for experts to volunteer time in their specific area of expertise and knowledge.  This commitment is different than that of organizations like Big Brothers, Big Sisters who ask for long-term commitments to a specific child.  CHAMPION FOR SUCCESS asks for short-term commitments from people who are experts in specific subjects needed to attain success in many aspects of life.  Other plans for mentoring programs include those to support young mothers, women emerging abusive relationships, those who are at-risk for suicide attempts and other social or at-risk situations unrelated to education.

CHAMPION EMPOWERMENT INSTITUTE offers life-skills classes and training that support character development and skills needed to successfully navigate a complicated world and remain personally strong and successful. Through personalized support that fills the gap of what may not be learned at home or otherwise through education or society, lives are enriched. People are empowered to support the community, enhance personal development, and achieve personal and work objectives.