Federal Updates

ED provides guidance on preparatory coursework provision
In response to inquiries from the financial aid community, ED has recently provided clarification on the "preparatory coursework" exception that allows schools to award FFELP loan funds to students completing prerequisite coursework necessary to enter a degree or certificate program.

President signs FY 2006 appropriations bill
On December 30, President Bush signed the FY 2006 Labor-HHS appropriations bill into law, setting the spending levels for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. Below are some high points of the bill that affect higher education funding.

TG Updates

TG celebrates 25 years of guarantees
This week TG celebrates the silver anniversary of its first student loan guarantee. The $1,850 loan, borrowed at nine-percent interest from Herring Bank of Amarillo, Texas, allowed a Baylor University student to attend classes for the 1981 spring semester.

Attend TG training sessions at the SASFAA conference
The 2006 SASFAA conference will be a great opportunity to gain industry training and insight, and TG representatives will be there to offer four informative and innovative training sessions to grab your attention and get you motivated.

TG names Thresa Tyus as new account executive
As an account executive with TG's relationship management and consulting team, Thresa will provide enhanced customer service to TG's customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth and East Texas areas.

Question of the week
Can a loan be disbursed after the end of the loan period or the date on which a student ceases to be enrolled at least half time?

This, That, and the Other...

Freshman seminars — small, interdisciplinary courses that diverge from the standard anonymous freshman lecture hall of several hundred students — have become more popular among the nations' colleges, according to a CNN article. Such courses have been around nearly a half-century, and longer by some definitions, but their popularity is surging. The number of colleges offering freshman seminars nearly doubled between 2000 and 2003 to about 25 percent, according to surveys of about 620 two- and four-year colleges by a University of South Carolina research center.

Proponents say this type of learning is valuable, gets students excited intellectually and helps them quickly develop relationships with top professors. A growing body of research shows engagement is a key to keeping students on track to graduate.

Experts say the quest to lure bright undergraduates partly explains why these programs are expanding. At competitive liberal arts schools, freshman seminars are now so common that not having one might be conspicuous to prospective students, and larger state universities also are expanding freshman seminars to stay attractive to those same students.

To read the article, visit http://www.cnn.com/2006/
EDUCATION/01/05/
freshman.seminars.ap/
index.html.