Federal Updates

• Consolidation Forms Reminder
  As announced in Shoptalk Edition 110, ED approved the common FFELP Consolidation loan forms in October 2000. For those institutions that have not yet implemented the forms, the deadline is quickly approaching.

Trends and Issues

• MYF Chat to Answer Questions about Financial Aid and Scholarship Searches
  Figuring out how to pay for college is sometimes one of the most difficult aspects of planning an education after high school. Now students and families can obtain help in locating the aid they're searching for during an online chat offered by Mapping Your Future.

Texas Legislative Report

• The November 26 edition of TG’s Legislative Report includes an FY 2002 appropriations update, an overview of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Star Awards program along with a list of the 17 finalists for the first annual award, and an article about recent action by TG’s Board of Directors to rename the TG Grant Program in honor of former TG Board Chair Dr. Charley Wootan. Find out more at www.tgslc.org/tgslc/publications/lege_report/2001/lr_011126.cfm.

Common Manual

• Common Manual e-Collection Highlighted at NCHELP Conference
  The Common Manual e-Collection CD-ROM has proven to be a handy and valuable resource for the FFELP community. The Common Manual Policy Committee recently provided a train the trainer presentation on using the resource at the NCHELP Fall Conference in Salt Lake City. The session introduced the new features included on the e-Collection and provided attendees with training tools to educate their clients and staff.
• Common Manual Updates
  Information on recent updates to the Common Manual.
• Correction to July 2001 Common Manual
  The nation's guarantors have removed unapproved language related to bankruptcy claim file documentation from the July 2001 Common Manual. The removed language is from Policy Proposal #461.

This, That, and the Other

• According to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service, upper-middle class families are benefiting from the Hope and Lifelong Learning tax credits at a significantly higher percentage than are low-income families. The report, titled "Higher Education Tax Credits and Deduction: An Overview of the Benefits and Their Relationship to Traditional Student Aid," reveals that tax filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $50,000 or more claimed nearly 46 percent of the total amount claimed in education credits for tax year 1999. Tax filers with AGI of less than $15,000 claimed less than 7 percent of the total amount claimed.

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