TG Updates

TG to present free FAFSA videoconference: The FAFSA Made Easy
While we know that the FAFSA is the single most important document needed to receive financial aid, recent statistics from the American Council on Education state that 50 percent of all undergraduate students in the 1999-2000 academic year did not fill out a FAFSA.

Enhanced functionality with CommonLine 5
As part of our commitment to provide you with the flexibility to simplify your loan management needs, TG supports both versions of CommonLine (CL) - CommonLine 4 (CL4) and CommonLine 5 (CL5). CL has been around for nearly a decade, and is well-known within the financial aid community. Whether you are submitting an application for guarantee, disbursing a loan, or returning funds via change transactions, all of these actions are processed behind the scenes via CL.

Federal Updates

ED releases revised RT4 guidance
ED recently released Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-04-12, which provides revised guidance on the subject of return of Title IV funds (RT4) specific to the date by which a school that is required to record attendance must determine whether a student has withdrawn. GEN-04-12 replaces GEN-04-03, which was released in February 2004.

Loan community develops inducement guidelines
The student loan community has developed a set of guidelines regarding the illegal use of inducements to obtain FFELP business. The guidelines, which have been circulated throughout the financial aid community over the past several months, have been finalized and endorsed by several major associations that represent organizations participating in the FFELP: the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP), the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), and the Education Finance Council (EFC).

Trends and Issues

TG co-sponsors chat event on loan consolidation
Many borrowers are considering student loan consolidation as interest rates continue to remain at their lowest levels in the history of the FFELP. To help these borrowers weigh the pros and cons of consolidation, Mapping Your Future (MYF) is offering a live chat event online at 6 p.m. CST on December 14, 2004.