Federal Updates

NPRM comments due soon
ED is currently soliciting comments on proposed changes to the regulations for general provisions and the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and National SMART Grant programs.

New Consolidation forms reminder
FFELP participants may continue to use their existing supply of Consolidation Loan Applications until October 1, 2007. After that date, only the revised Consolidation Loan Application may be provided to borrowers and supplies of "old" forms should be destroyed. Lenders may, however, process the prior version of the Consolidation Loan Application if a borrower submits that form to the lender after October 1, 2007.

TG Updates

TG awards Milton G. Wright Scholarships to six students
Six recent high school graduates have been selected to each receive the $500 Milton G. Wright Scholarship, awarded each year in honor of TG's former president and CEO.

Spotlight on TG's Public Benefit Grants: Texas State University Student Support Services' E-tutoring
Texas State University’s Student Support Services has added an electronic component to its tutoring service: Now students can go online to access one-on-one tutoring on a range of subjects, including mathematics, statistics, Spanish, writing, science, and business studies. One of the great benefits of this e-tutoring program is that students can take advantage of the service outside regular business hours during the week and on the weekend.

Training focus: Renew your financial aid mission and get more out of work through TG's For The Love of It training
The end of peak season is right around the corner, but you may have found yourself suffering from a minor case of burn-out. TG offers a remedy in a training session it provides through the TG Speakers Bureau. This session — For the Love of It — defines a systematic way to renew your focus at work and help you sustain your energy levels even during challenging times.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
If a graduate/professional student is currently in default on a Stafford loan, can the student can still receive a Grad PLUS loan?

This, That, and the Other...

If you're looking for help in creating interesting programs in celebration of Constitution Day, you might consider FREE, Federal Resources for Educational Excellence, an ED-supported website created for K-12 students and teachers. FREE's Web page devoted to the Constitution offers links to a number of federal sites including the Library of Congress and its historical holdings on the Federalist Papers and the James Madison papers. It also provides a link to an Interactive Constitution, which lets you search the Constitution and find relevant passages and explanations; a special Constitution Day Resources area, which features primary documents and lesson plans; and a link to a documentary history of the First Federal Congress, which provides the debates, legislative histories, and correspondence of the First Federal Congress.

You can find the site at www.free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=19&res_feature_request=1.