Shoptalk Online 302

Reauthorization watch
Last week, TG updated its Higher Education Act reauthorization page on TG Online with information on and links for several recent developments.

Latest volume of the 2005-2006 FSA Handbook now online
ED has released Volume 1 of the new 2005-2006 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook). This is one of only two volumes that have been released so far for the upcoming award year.

TG Updates

Debt management and default aversion training now available through TG's POSITIVE+BALANCE™ Program
Financial aid professionals can now take advantage of the latest tools to help their students successfully manage student loan repayment and learn responsible money management practices.

Have your students sign up now for TG's scholarship drawing
TG and our public-service website, Adventures In Education (AIE), are providing a $500 scholarship for the fall 2005 semester to one college student through a random drawing.

Trends and Issues

TG co-sponsors online chat event on consolidation, forgiveness
Student loan consolidation and forgiveness will be the topics of an upcoming Mapping Your Future™ online chat event scheduled for Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 6 p.m. (CDT) on the Mapping Your Future website, www.mapping-your-future.org.

Legislative Update

The April 21 issue of TG's Legislative Report includes a Congressional update with an update on the FY 2006 Budget Resolutions in conference, along with an update on the 79th Texas Legislative Session and how the student aid provisions of the Texas House and Senate appropriations bills differ dramatically. Keep up with the latest developments by reading the full report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

Compile a calendar of important dates for students to remember regarding their financial aid. Then submit it to your campus newspaper editor to be included in the publication's calendar of events.

This, That, and the Other...

According to a Washington Post article, students at Garrett College, a two-year school in Maryland, can raft, hike, and snowboard their way through a college education to receive a degree in adventure sports. It's a sign not only of how popular extreme outdoor sports have become, but also of just how much higher education has changed, the article reports. As college has become an increasingly essential means to a better income and more opportunities, some say college has gotten much less philosophical and much more keenly focused on getting a job. At the Center for Adventure and Outdoor Studies, students learn to repair a mountain bike, make a splint for a broken leg in the middle of the woods, and teach troubled kids about the outdoors. To read the article on azcentral.com, visit www.azcentral.com/families/
education/articles/
0415sportsmajor-ON.html.

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Shoptalk Online is published by TG. Unless specifically noted, the policies and procedures outlined in Shoptalk Online apply only to loans made under TG's guarantee and not to loans underwritten by other guarantors.

To ask questions about the articles in Shoptalk Online, please contact Communications at (800) 252-9743, ext. 4732 or communications@tgslc.org.

Contributors to this edition: Andres Cordero, Kelly Kaelin, Art Martinez, and Susan Martinez. Edited by TG Communications and Policy and Regulatory Affairs. Designed by TG Communications.

©2005 Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation.
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