TG Updates

TG hosts free telephone conference this week
Join TG this Thursday, September 16, for a free telephone conference on "Protecting Social Security Numbers in Student Financial Aid." There's still time to sign up for the conference, which will run from 2 to 3 p.m. CDT.

Federal Updates

ED releases FY 2002 cohort default rates
ED announced it would begin transmitting electronic cohort default rate (eCDR) notification packages to all schools located in the United States via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) this week. ED has also indicated that hard-copy cohort default rate packages were mailed to foreign schools, which are not required to participate in the electronic process, on Monday, September 13, 2004.

Closed school corner
The Department of Education announces one new closure.

Common Manual

Common Manual leadership changes announced
The Common Manual Governing Board is pleased to announce several changes to its Executive Management Team leadership for the 2004-2005 fiscal year, which began August 1, 2004. The Executive Management Team coordinates the annual update and production of the Common Manual and e-Collection CD-ROM.

Legislative Update

The September 8 issue of TG's Legislative Report includes updates on Congress' agenda for the next four weeks — which doesn't include reauthorization of the Higher Education Act — and the latest Congressional Budget Office projections for the federal budget deficit and federal debt. 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...

According to a report recently released by ED's National Center for Education Statistics, federal support of education has risen by $108.2 billion from FY 1990 to FY 2003, an increase of 102 percent, adjusted for inflation. This increase includes federal subsidies for $33.8 billion in new FFELP loans in 2003.

The report "Federal Support of Education: Fiscal Years 1980 to 2003" was released in August and provides an in-depth analysis of federal education spending trends — where it is being spent and how much — over the past 23 years. ED has become the primary provider of federal money for postsecondary education, accounting for 77 percent of $29.3 billion spent on postsecondary education in FY 2003. The report includes summaries, charts, graphs, and analyses of all federal support, including subsidies for student loans, federal allocations to schools, federal student aid, and federal tax credits to families.

For more information, visit the NCES website at http://nces.ed.gov.