Federal Updates

Latest volume of the 2007-08 FSA Handbook now online
ED has released volume 4, Processing Aid and Managing Federal Student Aid Funds, of the new 2007-08 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook).

TG Updates

Join TG at its regional training in Houston
Through its websites, publications, and training, TG helps schools stay informed about the latest changes in financial aid. TG's upcoming regional training in Houston, Texas is just the latest example of this kind of work.

Certain Stafford loan annual limits increase July 1 — order TG's updated brochure on FFELP borrowing
The Higher Education Reconciliation Act (HERA) of 2005 reauthorized major parts of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and made a number of changes to the FFELP. Among other things, it mandated increases to certain Federal Stafford loan annual limits, effective July 1, 2007.

Read the latest Edufacts™ — June 2007
The June 2007 edition of Edufacts features a close look at the federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.

Trends and Issues

Five tips for interviewing for your financial aid office
Financial aid can be a demanding profession, requiring a great deal from workers in terms of patience and concentration. Ensuring you have the staff to handle the challenges of your financial aid office means hiring people with the right set of qualifications.

Question of the week
I am certifying a Stafford loan for a fifth year senior, and am unsure whether the student has reached his Stafford aggregate undergraduate loan limit since the student transferred from another school. Do I need to check NSLDS for this information or will TG's system edits reject the loan if the new loan amount is over the aggregate undergraduate loan limit?

Legislative Update

The House education committee has reported HR 2669 — The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 — which proposes to achieve $19 billion in savings from the FFELP, with $750 million earmarked for deficit reduction and the remainder earmarked for increasing funding for Title III, Title IV, and Title V HEA programs, as well as funding for new programs. Among other things, the legislation proposes to: reduce the lender special allowance rate to 1.19 percent for Stafford loans not in repayment status, 1.79 percent for Stafford loans in repayment status and PLUS loans, and 2.09 percent for Consolidation loans; halve interest rates on undergraduate subsidized Stafford loans over five years from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, with the rate returning to 6.8 percent in 2013; reduce lender insurance to 95 percent (100 percent for lender of last resort loans); increase the lender fee from .5 percent to 1 percent, except for small lenders and nonprofit lenders not associated with for-profit entities; and repeal the exceptional performer program. To learn more about this legislation and other education bills being considered by both houses of Congress, read the full Legislative Update report on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/lege_report/index.cfm.

This, That, and the Other...

The College and Community Fellowship, a nonprofit social service organization based in Manhattan, runs a program that helps ex-convicts complete college. The organization provides academic counseling, tutoring, and mentoring services to ex-convicts, helping to shape leadership qualities in people who were once on the margins of society. The participants sometimes receive a small stipend to cover expenses as well.

The program is not a free pass through college. Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships or find other ways to pay their tuition.

The City University of New York's Graduate Center provides space rent-free for the college program, which is privately financed through grants from foundations. In the program's seven years of existence, 74 former prisoners, mostly single mothers, have graduated. Not one of them has ended up back behind bars.

To read the complete New York Times article on this interesting rehabilitative program, visit www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/nyregion/15prison.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=nyregion&adxnnlx=1182204516-ADAjjTC4EsqJuCXR3LKQCA.