Servicer Designation Added to MBA Education.

Washington -- The Mortgage Bankers Association has launched the industry's first formal training program for loan administration professionals.

The MBA has added a "certified mortgage servicer" designation to the roster of credentials it offers through its educational affiliate, CampusMBA. Parti-cipants will also be able to earn specialized credentials in three key areas of the servicing business: loan administration, financial controls/investor administration and default administration.

The program includes a hierarchy of designations, starting with a certificate of achievement, tied to the completion of coursework and industry experience. Participants can then go on to achieve the CMS designation with additional coursework and experience thresholds.

While it will typically take at least a couple of years of coursework to complete the CMS designation, the MBA expects some experienced industry executives to test out of early courses, allowing the first class of CMS designations to be awarded at next year's MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference.

To achieve the CMS designation, a minimum of two years of industry experience and the completion of a loan administration program are required.

The program also includes a "Master CMS" designation, which requires a minimum of seven years of industry experience in addition to completion of all three specialty tracks.

Dan Thoms, vice president of education at the MBA, told MSN that the education and certification program will increase the sense of professionalism within the loan administration field, where employee turnover is often very high.