Federal Updates

ED issues DCL providing clarification on Loan Verification Certificates (LVCs)
Last week, ED released Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-07-03 in response to an influx of questions by borrowers and lenders regarding previous ED guidance (DCL GEN-06-20) on the completion and return of LVCs. Released December 1, 2006, DCL GEN-06-20 provided a list of specific circumstances in which a loan holder is not required to complete an LVC but may instead provide a written explanation for not completing the form.

TG Updates

Join TG at the 2007 NASFAA Conference
TG presents several sessions at this year’s conference. These trainings cover a spectrum of topics in financial aid, including the regulatory intricacies of managing graduate and professional student aid; the financial barriers to a higher education, especially the effect of a lack of financial aid awareness; and various ways you can improve your office’s customer service.

TG releases student job placement software — TG CollegeWorks By Web™
TG has introduced a Web-based system to help financial offices maintain the student employment process. TG CollegeWorks By Web™ allows for the electronic posting of job applications and hiring of applicants. Students will love it because it provides 24/7 access to job bulletins through the Web.

Spotlight on TG's Public Benefit Grant Program: Partnership for Learning — using online marketing strategies to improve college access
Thanks to a variety of electronic devices — cell phones, PDAs, laptops — many college students stay connected to friends and family on an almost 24/7 basis. You may have wondered how you might harness the power of these tools to communicate with first-generation students about the opportunities that college brings. Partnership for Learning, a Michigan-based non-profit, is working to answer just that question.

Trends and Issues

How to return overawards through change transactions
There are two change transactions in CommonLine that are often confusing to school and lender partners: the @1-10 Disbursement Notification/Change (Post-Disbursement) and the @1-11 School Refund (Return of Title IV). TG has written articles in the past about the circumstances under which each transaction should be used. However, one circumstance on which TG has not provided input is the situation in which a school needs to return an overaward of loan funds to the lender.

Question of the week
What is full-time enrollment for an undergraduate program in the summer?

Legislative Update

The FY 2008 Congressional budget resolution came with a budget reconciliation instruction. The instruction directed the House and Senate education committees to report reconciliation legislation to the Budget Committees to achieve a savings of at least $750 million over a ten year period. As a result, it is now likely that the committees will include HEA reauthorization legislation in their reconciliation bills. With this legislation, the Committees will amend the FFELP (Part B of the HEA) in ways that will achieve $18 – $22 billion in savings, with $750 million earmarked for deficit reduction and the remainder earmarked for increasing funding for Title IV, Title III, and Title V HEA programs, as well as funding for new programs. To learn more about these latest legislative developments, read the full Legislative Update report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

When students vacate their dorm rooms or other campus housing, they often leave a flotsam of furniture, clothing, and other items in the frenzy to pack and move. More and more universities and colleges are turning this "trash" into "treasure" by donating these items to charities or selling them and donating the proceeds.

This year, up to 10,000 people may descend on Penn State's Beaver Stadium to pick their way through 62 tons of student detritus at the annual "Trash to Treasure" sale. The money raised is offered to the United Way. Boston College collects up to 100,000 items annually for dozens of community groups. In the 15 years since its program started, the University of Michigan has channeled 123 tons of "gently-used" student gear back to the community.

Programs also have sprung up in recent years at numerous other schools, among them Tufts, Santa Clara University, the University of Colorado, Furman University and Carleton College in Minnesota. Sometimes, student environmental groups are the driving force. But many colleges like the idea, too — at least more than paying to haul it all away.

To read the complete article on the growing charity-windfall at many colleges, visit this link.