Paul J. Mosquera

Chief Compliance and Risk Officer
MOHELA

Location: Chesterfield, MO
Founded: 1981
Industry: Student Loan Servicing

Paul J. Mosquera has always been a believer in the motto, “Tough times bring out the best in people.”

After surviving a stroke in September 2017, Mosquera, the chief compliance and risk officer at MOHELA, said he has experienced a personal and professional revitalization at a company that touches many lives on a daily basis.

MOHELA was created by state statute in 1981 as a public instrument of the State of Missouri, servicing both federal and private student loans. In addition, earnings not reserved for operations are regularly directed to the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation, a nonprofit foundation through which MOHELA provides student financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, no-interest loans, and similar programs.

“MOHELA exists for the benefit of its primary stakeholders, students pursuing higher education in the State of Missouri,” Mosquera said.

During his tenure at MOHELA as a member of the executive team since 2017, Mosquera has helped transform the culture at the company in such a way as to integrate the compliance and risk components into the business lines. This entailed getting the buy-in of executives over these business lines and overcoming any perceptions or misconceptions of these functions as unnecessary overhead.

The result has been that MOHELA now uses a formal risk-based approach to decision-making and strategic planning. The advancement in these areas has enabled MOHELA to garner top rankings in the federal student loan arena, and enhance relationships with large corporations like SoFi for private student loans. These accomplishments have positioned MOHELA to embark on a new initiative to increase the number of federal student loans that it services.

“In the media, you may have noticed that other student loan servicers are exiting the business in part because of the regulatory and risk burdens,” Mosquera said. “Federal Student Aid has agreed to transfer some of these loans to MOHELA. These additions to its servicing portfolio will more than double its size.”

Over the next five years, MOHELA’s executive team is confident that the strategic plan will preserve and protect MOHELA’s core assets and produce a reliable steady stream of net revenues to be distributed to our stakeholders via scholarships, grants, interest free loans, etc.. The strategy also will generate economic activity and jobs in Missouri, which Mosquera said would otherwise be relinquished to other states.

“Successful execution of the strategic plan will result in a more diversified company that will increase both its federal and private student loan portfolios, as well as take advantage of opportunities in the Income Share Agreement market,” Mosquera said. “Coupled with efforts to build a new system platform for its various services, MOHELA will solidify its position as an industry leader, and offer guidance across the organization for thoughtful and well-planned growth.”