Federal Updates

Texas teacher shortage areas for 2003-2004 announced
On October 22, 2003, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released ED's list of subject-matter teacher shortage areas for Texas. Full-time teachers in designated shortage areas at public or nonprofit private elementary or secondary schools may be eligible for the teacher shortage area deferment on certain FFELP loans.

TG Updates

TG's efforts proving effective in preventing delinquency and default
The evidence is in. TG, under its Voluntary Flexible Agreement (VFA) with the U.S. Department of Education, is having success in helping student loan borrowers avoid problems with loan repayment.

Trends and Issues

Topsy-turvy terminology
Unfortunately, the financial aid industry has a few situations in which there are multiple terms for similar concepts. One example is the triumvirate of "discharge," "forgiveness," and "cancellation."

Common Manual

Common Manual Updates
Information on recent updates to the Common Manual.

Legislative Update

The October 28 issue of TG's Legislative Report includes updates on the major student financial aid-related and HEA reauthorization legislation pending before the First Session of the 108th Congress. Keep up with the latest developments by reading the full report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

As the reauthorization of the HEA approaches, Congress is cranking out bills left and right (pun intended) to amend the law. As these bills are made public, you may find that there are several that you either avidly support or fervently oppose — and you may want your elected officials to know about it.

So, you may ask yourself … who represents me?

The answer is just a few clicks away:

• To access your state's U.S. Senators, visit www.senate.gov. The home page includes a "Find Your Senators" search feature.
• To access your U.S. Representative, visit www.house.gov. Enter your ZIP code on the home page to "Find Your Representative."

And remember to keep up with all of the breaking news about reauthorization on TG's reauthorization page, located at www.tgslc.org/reauth/
index.cfm.