Federal Updates

Current special allowance rates: quarter ending September 30, 2006
Special allowance rates for the quarter ending September 30, 2006, are now available.

TG Updates

TG expands Hispanic Higher Education Initiative
As a part of its Hispanic Higher Education Initiative, TG has established partnerships with two national Latino-based organizations — Excelencia in Education and the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). TG will collaborate with these groups to increase postsecondary education access and success among Hispanics.

Texas consortium offers helping hand to undocumented students through student aid application
A growing number of "undocumented students" are graduating from high schools across the country. Undocumented students are those who were born in other countries but live in the U.S. without a valid visa. Many of these students have lived most of their lives in the U.S., they're fluent in English and Spanish, and they're eager to get a college degree at American universities. However, when they begin applying to U.S. colleges, they run into a huge roadblock: funding.

TG auditing expert co-authors international guide on managing and auditing privacy risks
The issue of privacy of personal information is one that has received considerable attention not only in the student financial aid arena, but across several industries. As technology evolves and the demands for speed and efficiency of the flow of information increase, so do the challenges for organizations to minimize privacy risks. As a result, resources used by business professionals to address this issue are evolving in depth and applicability to current business environments.

Learn more about first-generation students through new issue of TG Connection
If you've traveled to a foreign country where English is not the native language, you may know what it's like to feel out of place. Getting around, communicating with others, and understanding the customs can be challenging, even difficult. Many first-generation students — those first in their family to go to college — face exactly this kind of experience during their freshman year on campus.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
How should a school treat a tuition waiver in determining a student's cost of attendance?

Common Manual

Common Manual site debuts
The Common Manual Governing Board has announced the launch of the new Common Manual website.

This, That, and the Other...

ED has released the latest version of FSA COACH, its free comprehensive introductory course on school requirements for administering the Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs.

FSA COACH, available at www.ed.gov/fsacoach, is a series of self-paced online lessons that provides learners with interactive content on program requirements and that looks closely at the roles and responsibilities of the various players in student financial aid. The new 2006-07 version of the tool includes information derived from the passage of the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA).

To learn more about the features of FSA COACH, view the ED announcement about the release of the 2006-07 version at www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/ANN0611.html.