# Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation

Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Jackson, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Jackson, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Jackson, MS, United States
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** mheac.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://linkedin.com/company/mississippi-higher-education-assistance-corporation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation (MHEAC) was established at the request of the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, functioning as a state-chartered non-profit focused on education finance. James McHale serves as President and CEO, also leading the affiliated Woodward Hines Education Foundation. The entity was created to support state education financing by providing a reliable secondary market for student loans, ensuring banks and credit unions could continue originating loans without balance-sheet strain. MHEAC's investment strategy centers on purchasing and servicing Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) portfolios. These loans carry a federal guarantee, making the portfolio a form of credit instrument backed by the U.S. Department of Education. While MHEAC does not deploy capital like a traditional endowment, its asset management is concentrated in fixed-income-like student loan assets, with cash flows recycled to support the Mississippi Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board and related state grant programs. Geographic focus is entirely within Mississippi, maintaining a nexus between local lenders and the state's higher education ecosystem. The entity operates from a shared office at 2616 Lakeward Drive in Jackson alongside the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, blurring the line between a pure asset owner and an operating non-profit. MHEAC is an active member of the National Council of Higher Education Resources (NCHER) and the Education Finance Council (EFC), trade groups representing non-profit and state-based loan providers. These affiliations position MHEAC within a network of similar entities managing legacy FFELP runoff and advocating for state-level education finance policy. MHEAC's structural differentiator is its direct statutory linkage to the state's higher education governance. It is not a family office, endowment, or foundation in the traditional sense, but a liquidity vehicle purpose-built to serve Mississippi's Board of Trustees. Its investment posture is entirely a function of its statutory mission — holding and servicing an amortizing pool of federally guaranteed loans — rather than pursuing return-seeking mandates. This makes MHEAC a singular entity on the Altss platform: a non-profit asset owner whose balance sheet exists to facilitate state education policy, not to generate investment performance.

## Sectors

- Education
- Private Credit
- Fixed Income

## People

- James McHale — President and Chief Executive Officer

## Questions

### What is the mission of the Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation?

MHEAC functions as a secondary market for student loans in Mississippi, purchasing loans from originating lenders to replenish their capital for new lending. It was organized at the request of the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. The entity channels revenues toward supporting state education finance initiatives.

### Who runs investment and operational decisions at MHEAC?

James McHale serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of MHEAC. He simultaneously leads the Woodward Hines Education Foundation. Under his leadership, the corporation manages the legacy student loan portfolio and maintains relationships with state educational bodies and national industry associations.

### How is MHEAC related to the Woodward Hines Education Foundation?

The two entities share leadership under James McHale and operate from the same physical address at 2616 Lakeward Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. The Woodward Hines Education Foundation is a separate non-profit focused on educational attainment, while MHEAC holds and services the student loan portfolio.

### Does MHEAC take outside capital or operate like an endowment?

No. MHEAC does not manage outside investor capital. It is a non-profit corporation created to serve the state of Mississippi's education finance system. Its assets are derived from the student loan portfolio it owns, and its revenues support state-level financial aid and education programs rather than generating returns for stakeholders.

## Related profiles

- [Mirabaud & Cie](https://altss.com/profile/mirabaud-cie)
- [Mississippi Lime Company Retirement Plan](https://altss.com/profile/mississippi-lime-company-retirement-plan)

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Updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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