Federal Updates

Latest volume of the 2007-08 FSA Handbook now online
ED has released volume 1, Student Eligibility, of the new 2007-08 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook).

TG Updates

EPI And TG release Effective Practices in Student Success (EPSS) Database
The Educational Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit research center devoted to the study of educational opportunity, and TG have jointly released a new Web-based tool to provide strategies for improving student success for postsecondary institutions.

Tamara N. Carter joins TG as regional account executive for the Northeast
Carter's territory will include most of the states in the Northeast corridor, including Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. She will be based in the D.C. area.

On the Record: Federal student aid vital to Texans and to the nation
TG President and CEO Sue McMillin talks about why the FFELP is a crucial component for insuring financial access to higher education in Texas and across the nation.

Product spotlight: TG's Student Loan Default brochure
The Student Loan Default brochure defines default, describes its effects on borrower credit, offers various ways to avoid default, and describes how borrowers can resolve a default with the help of their lender or guarantor.

TG announces release of Spanish version of Frequently Asked Questions brochure
TG recently released the Spanish version of its Frequently Asked Questions brochure.

Read the latest Edufacts™ — May 2007
The May 2007 edition of Edufacts looks closely at why educators are working hard to try to convince more Hispanics that college loans are a good investment.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
A student is re-admitted under her school's academic amnesty program, which allows an undergraduate student to begin a new program of study with a clear academic record. If the student applies for federal student aid (FSA), must the financial aid office, in evaluating the student's satisfactory academic progress (SAP), follow the school's academic amnesty program guidelines and exclude from her grade-point average calculation the courses that the student had exempted under the amnesty program?

This, That, and the Other...

ED's Federal Student Aid (FSA) offers a concise history of federal student aid 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 the first major federal offering of student aid to individual students was the G.I. Bill of 1944?

The Serviceman's Readjustment Act, popularly known as the G.I. Bill, provided veterans with funds for tuition, fees, books and supplies, and living expenses. The G.I. Bill created the first major program to provide federal student aid to individuals instead of to institutions. The technological and educational advances of the post-World War II era resulted from this national investment in postsecondary education.

The complete FSA timeline can be found here.