Federal Updates

Interest rates — how low will they go?
They said it couldn't happen again. For the last two years, Stafford and PLUS loan interest rates have dropped significantly, bringing great benefits for student loan borrowers across the nation. Now, amazingly, lightning has struck a third time, and the rates are even lower — the lowest they have ever been in the history of the FFELP.

TG Updates

New Council initiatives help reduce student loan default
Traditionally, schools compete with each other for students, for athletics, and for research dollars. Student loan lenders compete for borrowers and market share. But in the case of the Council for the Management of Educational Finance, school and lender representatives come together to focus on preventing default. This collaboration has served the financial aid community well, and several new initiatives are making this a banner year for the Council.

Trends and Issues

Online counseling to feature enhanced FAO access; prototype available for review
This summer, Mapping Your Future will upgrade its popular Online Student Loan Counseling (OSLC). The new version will feature an enhanced FAO Access Area to streamline the retrieval of student counseling records. Sneak previews of the new FAO area are available now, and Mapping Your Future is welcoming feedback from financial aid professionals.

TG cosponsors chat event on loan consolidation
As interest rates are set to drop even lower this July, many borrowers are considering student loan consolidation to potentially lock in a lower rate. To help these borrowers weigh the pros and cons of consolidation, Mapping Your Future, a public service Web site sponsored by TG and other student loan guarantors, is offering an online live chat event at 6 p.m. (CDT) on June 10, 2003.

Quick Links

• Interest Rates Chart

This, That, and the Other...

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1970, men were awarded a majority of all bachelor's degrees in all 50 states. By 2000, women earned a majority of bachelor's degrees in all 50 states.

To see how the numbers of men and women earning bachelor's degrees compare in your state during that period, link to the national map at www.postsecondary.org/
pr/pr_02.asp and click on your state. This map and the associated charts were developed by the Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY newsletter, published by Tom Mortenson, an independent higher education policy analyst and senior scholar at The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education in Washington, DC.