Federal Updates

Terri Shaw resigns from ED
Terri Shaw, Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid (FSA), resigned from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) last week after nearly five years in her position. Her resignation is effective June 1.

ED begins releasing 2007-08 Federal Student Aid Handbook
ED has released two volumes of the new 2007-08 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook), including the Application and Verification Guide, and Overawards, Overpayments, and Withdrawal Calculations. Note that this version of the FSA Handbook is the first to incorporate guidance reflecting changes to the federal student aid programs resulting from the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA).

TG Updates

TG and Mapping Your Future™ introduce Stafford and Grad PLUS combined entrance counseling
Mapping Your Future (MYF) in partnership with TG now offers Stafford and Grad PLUS combined entrance counseling as part of Online Student Loan Counseling (OSLC).

Product spotlight: TG's Decreasing Coursework brochure
TG offers a new brochure — Decreasing Coursework — which outlines the repercussions of dropping below half time and cautions students to consider all their options before making such a choice. The brochure, which fits easily into a regular business envelope, can be mailed to students contemplating withdrawal or stocked as a take-away item in your office lobby.

Take a training break: Join TG at these spring conferences
Now that the semester is practically over, reward yourself with some training. A number of regional and state financial aid associations hold their annual conferences following semester-end, and TG offers sessions at quite a few of these.

Trends and Issues

Money management 101: Five things to tell your students about handling their finances
Here's some sobering news about consumer debt: Americans owe more than $3 trillion to banks and creditors, an amount that surpasses the annual federal budget. You can help your students avoid excessive debt and better manage their finances by teaching them a few basic money management “principles.”

Question of the week
I have student borrowers who are about to graduate coming by the financial aid office with questions about consolidation — particularly regarding the timing. Many of these borrowers have older loans with variable interest rates and they're wondering when the industry will know what the change in the variable rates will be. When are the new rates announced?

This, That, and the Other...

If you're curious about the history of federal student aid, you'll find that ED's Federal Student Aid provides some background in its "FSA COACH." The FSA COACH is an online tutorial that looks closely at the school requirements for administering postsecondary federal student aid (FSA) programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

One of the online course modules offers a brief timeline of the legislative history to student aid. Here's some interesting information from that module: Did you know that one of the first pieces of legislation to provide federal support for state public universities was the Morrill Act for Land Grant Colleges of 1862? The act encouraged states to establish public universities by providing federal land and financial support.

The original mission of these land grant colleges was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanical arts, as well as classical studies, so that members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education.

To help administer the many emerging colleges and universities, the federal government created the first U.S. Office of Education in 1867. Its role was limited to gathering and disseminating information about the status of education.

The complete FSA timeline can be found at www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/fsacoach/lesson1_2/1_2_14.html#.