The student aid industry is diverse - with many loan programs offering their own combination of upfront and repayment benefits. American Education Services (AES) and our network of servicing partners has a unique relationship with Upromise, allowing buyers to automatically link their savings to their AES-serviced loan balance.

The exclusive American Education Services (AES) Upromise Program allows borrowers with AES-serviced student loans to repay those loans faster using contributions from purchases made from participating Upromise companies. Everyday purchases - gas, groceries, dining out can be helpful in reducing the buyer's student loan balance and borrowers can have their family and friends' Upromise savings credited to their account for additional savings.

It's a brilliant concept, stemming from the original Upromise model allowing parents to use contributions received from qualified purchases to save for their child's higher education. With the rising costs of tuition, many found that they had waited too long to start saving or they hadn't saved enough. The innovative AES Upromise Program takes that same unique model and comes at the problem from the opposite end; rebates can be used to repay already established AES serviced student loans.

With tens of thousands of Upromise retailers - grocery and drug stores, retail stores, service providers, restaurants, hotels, car rental agencies, realty companies and online retailers - AES borrowers can benefit with very little effort. AES-borrowers have erased almost $1.5 million of student loan debt through the AES Upromise Program.

For example, if a borrower had a $10,000 college loan at 7% over 10 years, his monthly payments would have been about $116. If he earned $10 each month in Upromise savings, he could have paid off the loan 13 months earlier. Doing so could also have saved the student an additional $470 in interest payments. Consider the benefits - especially since no new spending habits are necessary; simply purchase what you typically buy.

Contribution transfers are automatically made to the holder's student loan account on a quarterly basis, as long as the student loan account has been linked to the holder's Upromise account and provided the minimum transfer requirement has been met. Upromise transfers supplement, but do not replace, the account holder's monthly payments.

Encourage your students to visit upromise.com/aes today and establish their free Upromise account. They'll be paying off their student loan(s) without even trying.