TG Updates

Your suggestions help improve TG Loans By Web™ borrower interface
On May 1, TG introduced a newly enhanced borrower interface for TG Loans By Web™ (LBW). TG made improvements to LBW based on suggestions and enhancement ideas received from schools and student loan borrowers who use LBW. TG recently sent "instruction letter" templates to help schools inform borrowers of the changes.

Default prevention and collections call centers to close early for holiday weekend, system upgrade
Over the Memorial Day weekend, TG will upgrade its default prevention, claims, and collections systems. Because these systems will be unavailable during the conversion, TG is announcing special processing schedules and special hours for its default prevention and collections teams, so that schools, lenders, and servicers may plan their interactions with TG accordingly.

New data reporting team continues tradition of enhancing efficiency and ensuring quality
TG introduced a new data reporting team at its annual conference in April. The new team evolved out of TG's renowned NSLDS team, which has undergone several changes since January of this year.

Federal Updates

Multi-agency collaboration releases latest report on efforts to prevent scholarship fraud
This month, in compliance with the College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 (the Act), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Education (ED) released their third collaborative report to Congress, detailing their ongoing efforts to combat scholarship and financial aid fraud.

ED postpones s to parents and students who estimated income
In April, ED announced that it would be sending s to students and parents who estimated their income on their 2004-2005 FAFSAs, reminding them to update their Student Aid Reports with recently reported income tax information (see Shoptalk Online 252). This month, ED announced in a May 5 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) that it will postpone sending these s until May 17. ED has decided to delay this transmission of s, due to overwhelming feedback from the financial aid community, and to allow time for changes to the schedule, selection criteria, and text for the messages.

Trends and Issues

Edufacts™ — April 2004
The largest federal grant program, the Pell Grant, was established in 1972 and was designed to be the foundation for student financial aid packaging. However, the buying power of the Pell Grant, which is reserved for the neediest of students, has steadily declined over the past 30 years.

Legislative Update

The May 17 issue of TG's Legislative Report provides updates on HEA reauthorization bills before Congress. The report also provides updates on the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission review of TG, the growing involvement of the state’s financial aid community on issues facing the Texas Legislature, and the endorsement of the Task Force on Enrollment Strategy recommendations by University of Texas at Austin president Dr. Larry R. Faulkner. Keep up with the latest developments by reading the full reports on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

We live in a world where everything, it seems, is expressed with an acronym. Everything from government agencies (NASA and FBI) to fast food restaurants (BK and KFC) are expressed with these abbreviations, which become words unto themselves. The Internet has spurred a whole slew of new acronyms. In fact, “www” and “URL” are now entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

And, as you are probably well aware, the financial aid community is known for its long list of acronyms. From FAFSA, to EFC, to NASFAA, the industry is a veritable alphabet soup. So, to help you digest the soup, we’re providing a link to a list of financial aid acronyms and their meanings, courtesy of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Program (NCHELP — of course). To view the 13-page list, visit www.nchelp.org/elibraryII/
Main/10-RefMaterial/10A-RateInfo/2004-03_Glossary_
Initials_Acronyms.pdf.

You’ll even find TG listed right there on page 12.