TG Updates

TG's updated online forms ordering
As always, TG strives to provide you with the best customer service possible. One way we hope to accomplish this is by offering you a quick and easy way to order printed forms, brochures, publications, and other materials from TG. By ordering online direct from TG, you can ensure that you have the items you need to efficiently serve your families, students, and borrowers.

Order TG, Council's newest default awareness poster
Over the past few years, TG and the Council for the Management of Educational Finance (Council), a collaborative group of higher education lending and servicing professionals, have teamed up to produce a series of award-winning posters that encourage student loan repayment. TG and the Council recently unveiled this year's poster titled "We help you go the distance."

Federal Updates

President Bush signs Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004
Have you heard the buzz around the office about Congress increasing the maximum forgiveness amount under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) Program, but like most rumors feared it was just that — a rumor? Well, what you heard is true. On October 30 President Bush signed into law the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004 (HR 5186).

Order your 2005-2006 FAFSAs now
What's black, green, and purple all over? If you guessed the 2005-2006 paper FAFSA, you'd be right. Last week ED announced that the English and Spanish versions of the paper 2005-2006 FAFSA are available and ready to be ordered.

Trends and Issues

Edufacts™ — November 2004
Each month, TG provides current information about education issues through Edufacts. Produced by TG as a public service, Edufacts illustrate studies and surveys conducted by TG and other educational organizations, and trends observed. School financial aid officers and administrators may download Edufacts free of charge for use in their campus publications, brochures, posters, etc. targeted to students. This month, Edufacts looks at the impact that the cost of food and housing has on a college student's budget.

Legislative Update

The November 1 issue of TG's Legislative Report includes updates on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's publication of their priorities for the upcoming state legislative session, the growing national deficit that the winner of today's presidential election will face, and an update of 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...

The number of white students enrolling at the nation's 120 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and universities has increased 65 percent over the past 25 years — from 21,000 to 35,000 — according to an article in the October 31 edition of The Washington Post.

The article attributes the increase partly to court orders aimed at desegregation and partly to students' interest in academic programs these schools offer. Some HBCUs are actively recruiting talented students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to increase the status of their programs.

To read the story in its entirety, visit the The Washington Post's website at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12377-2004Oct30.html.