Federal Updates

House passes H.R. 5
On January 17, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 5, the College Student Aid Relief Act of 2007. H.R. 5 contains several provisions of great significance to the financial aid community, including reductions in student loan interest rates, lender insurance rates, and guarantor collection retention fees.

TG Updates

TG rolls out new campus job placement software
Is hiring for your school's campus jobs taking all your time? Do you find matching the qualifications for hundreds of applicants with the requirements for a few jobs confusing and difficult? Get some electronic help with TG CollegeWorks By Web™.

Meet George Torres, assistant vice president of congressional and legislative relations
Someone who serves as an advocate for the higher education community — including schools, lenders, and borrowers — and as an information resource to legislators on both a national and state level is TG's George Torres.

Order the new Graduate PLUS Loan and Parent PLUS Loan brochures from TG
TG offers two new brochures that describe the PLUS loan process: Graduate PLUS Loan provides information on the recently-inaugurated Grad PLUS loan for students; and Parent PLUS Loan offers a concise overview of the PLUS loan process for parent-borrowers.

Trends and Issues

Get blanket notification whenever a default aversion assistance request is filed on a student or former student
In accordance with 34 CFR, Section 682.404(a)(4), schools and school agents can make a blanket request to be notified whenever any of the school's current or former Stafford Loan borrowers are the subject of a default aversion assistance request (DAAR).

Question of the week
If a student entered the U.S. one month prior to his 26th birthday and failed to register with the Selective Service, but meets all other eligibility requirements, does the student qualify for federal student aid?

Legislative Update

The Democratically-controlled U.S. House of Representatives set an ambitious legislative agenda for the first 100 hours of the 110th session of Congress. Given their majority, the Democrats are making good on a promise to pass legislation in a number of different areas, including student loans. H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act, which proposes halving student loan interest rates by 2011, has passed the House with a veto-proof majority. Learn more about the details of this bill and the companion Senate bill in the full Legislative Report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

Join TG at the Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA) Conference in Nashville, Tenn., held February 11 - 14. TG will be presenting several workshops on a varied array of topics. You'll explore the concept of leadership in "Leadership at Work," an informative session on ways you can build trust, embrace change, and help others to succeed. If you'd like to improve your Spanish for work purposes, attend the "Business Spanish for Phone and Commonly-Used Terms" training. Or to learn more about an interesting study on long-range cohort default rates, try "The Context: Crisis Averted or Merely Postponed." To find out what other conferences and events at which TG will be attending or presenting, view TG's Event Calendar at www.tgslc.org/abouttg/calendar.cfm.