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UNCG is one of 40 universities nationwide under investigation to uncover whether the institutions steered student-athletes to education lenders in exchange for kickbacks.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo served 40 universities Wednesday with subpoenas and requests for documents about deals between athletics departments and Student Financial Services Inc., which operates as University Financial Services.
Cuomo, who has been investigating the relationships between student loan providers and college administrators, said he's looking at how team names, mascots and colors were used to suggest the company was the college's preferred lender.
"Students trust their university's athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers (on) supporting the home team," Cuomo said. "To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division I schools already generate tremendous revenue from their student- athletes."
Officials at UNCG had not received the subpoena late Wednesday afternoon Steve Gilliam, the university's spokesman, said.
"The University briefly had a contract with University Financial Services, beginning in late October of 2006, which was terminated on February 21, 2007, when the University learned that the same services were provided by the College Foundation of North Carolina at no charge," Gilliam said in a written statement. "As far as we can determine at this time, no action was ever taken under that contract."
Subpoenas went out Wednesday, according to the N.Y. attorney general's spokesman. Schools were given two weeks to respond.
"What we want to do is get all the information back from the subpoenas," said Jeffrey Lerner, the spokesman for the New York Attorney General's Office. "We want to understand the full depth and dynamics of this relationship."
New York's attorney general's office is conducting the investigations, even though the universities subpoenaed are outside that state.
"Our position is, and has been through the entire investigation, the laws and rights and protections afforded to New York students follow them when they go out of state," Lerner said.
Cuomo has said he uncovered a pattern of favoritism for lenders who provided kickbacks, "revenue sharing" plans, and trips and other gifts in exchange for designations as recommended lenders. Sometimes the colleges provided campus employees to staff telephone banks for lenders drumming up business.
Cuomo's findings led to state and national reforms.
"Today's action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry," Cuomo said.
The loan company couldn't immediately be reached for a comment.
Cuomo said that during his first investigation, he found the athletics director of Dowling College on New York's Long Island entered into a revenue sharing agreement with University Financial Services that paid the college $75 for every new loan application, exclusive marketing advantages on campus, and allowed the lender to use the department's interns to disseminate its brochures.
Dowling ended the relationship with the company as part of its settlement of Cuomo's investigation.
Cuomo's investigation has resulted in settlements and reforms with 12 lenders — including Nelnet, Citibank, Sallie Mae, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America — and several colleges, with
$13.7 million in payments made to a national education fund to help high school students apply for student loans.
Cuomo has said the U.S. Department of Education has had weak oversight of the student loan industry, a view supported Wednesday in a report by the investigative arm of Congress.
The Education Department is supposed to make sure banks that participate in the federal student loan program aren't giving schools or school officials anything of value in exchange for getting business.

Staff writer Lanita Withers contributed to this report.