Federal Updates

Jeff Andrade resigns from ED
Jeff Andrade, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), resigned from ED late last week. His resignation was effective Friday, August 29.

ED issues guidance regarding FFELP participation by foreign schools
On August 25, 2003, ED issued Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) G-03-348 to guarantors and lenders regarding necessary actions related to FFELP loan disbursements for students attending foreign schools. A follow-up DCL (GEN-03-10) was sent to foreign schools on August 27, to remind these schools of the various requirements that they must follow to participate in the FFELP.

TG Updates

TG names Brenda Smith national account representative
Brenda Smith has joined TG as a national account representative serving New York State. Brenda comes to TG with more than 23 years of experience in student financial aid.

Trends and Issues

Edufacts™ — August 2003
Think school supplies and clothes are the only costs associated with going back to school? Think again.

Legislative update

The August 28 issue of TG's Legislative Report provides updates on the Congressional Budget Office's new ten-year federal budget deficit projections and the status of major student aid-related legislation filed during the first session of the 108th Congress.

Read the full report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

What ever happened to students who complete their degree in four years or less? They've actually become more common since the early 1990s, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The percentage of first-time bachelor's degree recipients who finished in 4 years or less increased from 35 percent to
39 percent (nearly two-fifths) between 1993 and 2000.

The report, "Baccalaureate and Beyond: A Descriptive Summary of 1999-2000 Bachelor's Degree Recipients, 1 Year Later — With an Analysis of Time to Degree," sheds light on the experiences and demographics of recent graduates, their activities after graduation, and the amount of time they are taking to finish their degrees.

The full report is available online at http://nces.ed.gov/
pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?
pubid=2003165.