DES MOINES (AP) -- A report from the Iowa attorney general's office released Friday criticized a nonprofit student loan group, claiming it inaccurately marketed its loans as always being the lowest cost for their customers.

The report was prompted by Gov. Chet Culver's request of a comprehensive review of Iowa Student Loan Corp., which provides loans to Iowa college students.

According to the report, Iowa Student Loan did not adequately promote federal loans, did not do enough to advise its customers about different types of loans and in some cases marketed its loans as having the lowest cost when that wasn't the case.

"There is no question that ISL's private loans were low-cost loans compared to many private lenders," the report stated. "However, ISL often made claims and marketed its loans as 'lowest cost loans' ... (his was not always the case when comparing ISL's private loans with other private loans. And, it was almost never the case when comparing their loans with federal student loans."

Steve McCullough, the nonprofit organization's chief executive officer, responded that Iowa Student Loan didn't produce any marketing materials claiming that its loans always are the lowest cost available to customers. He told legislators its goal was to offer the lowest-cost loans, but it never claimed in marketing material to be the cheapest in every case, McCullough said.

McCullough said he largely agreed with the recommendations offered in the report and noted efforts already were under way at Iowa Student Loan to address criticisms in the report.

He also said it was important that the report "emphatically" dismissed any allegations that the group had been mismanaged, had misappropriated funds or engaged in criminal conduct.

Culver called for the report after the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative Services Agency, which researches issues for lawmakers, and others questioned whether Iowa Student Loan's mission was being achieved. Culver also has raised concerns about openness and possible conflicts of interest with Iowa Student Loan.

Earlier this year, Culver signed a law tightening protections for students who receive college loans and increasing oversight of Iowa Student Loan. While tuition at Iowa public universities tends to run less than comparable institutions in other states, average student debt in Iowa ranks second in the nation.