TG Updates

Register now for TG's "Kaleidoscope of Dreams"
It's almost that time again. The 2004 TG conference, "Kaleidoscope of Dreams," will be held from Wednesday, April 21 through Friday, April 23, and already more than 300 industry partners have registered. Have you? This year, the conference is free to all school representatives and is a great opportunity to brush up on your notes, polish your skills, and gain expertise on the latest industry developments.

Federal Updates

ED provides guidance to assist Title IV participants affected by a disaster
ED recently issued Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-04-04, which provides specific regulatory relief for Title IV participants impacted by a federally-declared disaster. The guidance in this DCL affects students, borrowers, schools, lenders, servicers, and guarantors.

ED posts default management Q&A to public listserv
As reported in Shoptalk Online Edition 236, at the end of last year, ED established a national default prevention discussion listserv dedicated to members of the financial aid community who value the importance of default prevention (isn't that all of us?). Recently, ED posted to the listserv a useful Q&A on default management that provides resources for schools trying to bring high default rates low or low rates even lower.

Trends and Issues

Edufacts™ — February 2004
More students are attending college today than ever before, and this rise in attendance is accompanied by rising costs in higher education. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the average annual tuition and fees at public universities have more than doubled from $1,883 in 1980 to $4,231 in 2001.

Common Manual

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

Legislative Update

The March 2 issue of TG’s Legislative Report includes updates on the release of new estimates on the budgetary impact of making federal tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 permanent, Congress’ schedule in the coming months, the status of HEA reauthorization and several other bills related to student aid.

Also provided are future hearing dates for the Texas Joint Interim Committee on Higher Education and an update on The Sunset Advisory Commission review of TG.

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...

Students and families are becoming increasingly frustrated with what they believe should be a purely objective, by the numbers task for colleges and universities — determining a student’s financial aid award, according to the article “Who Truly Needs Financial Aid?” published in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2004.

Many parents are confused by the many factors that come into play when it’s time to apply for financial aid. Income, savings, investments, and debt can make parents’ heads spin — especially if they are self-employed or divorced.

While the federal government determines a family’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), the puzzle doesn’t stop there. Each school’s financial aid officer applies the school’s own formula for calculating each aid package. So, the same family may receive very different financial aid packages from different schools — all based on the same financial information.

Helping families understand the financial aid process, what personal finance information they must report, and how this all fits into the equation that determines the financial aid package offered by your school, makes the process easier for everyone involved.

For the complete article visit www.usnews.com/usnews/
edu/college/articles/
brief/03need_brief.php.