Federal Updates

ED announces new National SMART Grant majors
Yesterday, ED released Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-07-06, announcing additions to the list of eligible academic majors under the National Science and Mathematics Success to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant Program for the 2007-08 award year.

TG Updates

TG awards more than $5.2 million in competitive grants to advance college access and student retention
TG has awarded more than $5.2 million in grants to 42 institutions and nonprofit organizations to advance access to college, student retention, and educational research. This is the third consecutive year that TG will award the competitive grants through its Public Benefit Grant Program, the company's philanthropic initiative.

TG offers Web-based tool for borrowers seeking consolidation
TG has added a new feature to its consolidation website, one that provides borrowers with more access and better control in their search for federal student loan consolidation services.

Join TG at this year's TASFAA Fall Conference
For this year’s fall TASFAA Conference, TG will present five workshops, all designed to focus on topics important to administrators, including regulatory changes, default aversion strategies, and financial literacy.

Trends and Issues

Sticky situations: Know your limits
Have you ever been bewildered while trying to decipher a student's loan history information, or felt frustrated in awarding Stafford loans for your students who can't seem to decide if they want to be undergraduate or graduate students? This article — the latest installment in our series on difficult policy situations — will address some common issues that arise with aggregate loan limits.

Question of the week
Could a Grad PLUS loan borrower consolidate his or her Grad PLUS loans while in school?

This, That, and the Other...

Recently, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings honored President Lyndon Baines Johnson in a ceremony officially renaming the U.S. Department of Education building at 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W. in Washington, D.C., as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.

U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Texas and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas sponsored a bill to rename the building. President Bush signed the legislation in March 2007 authorizing the building name change. The dedication ceremony honored Lyndon Baines Johnson as a true champion of education and a strong advocate for students of all ages.

This "teacher who became president" served his country as a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, as a member of both houses of Congress, as Vice President of the United States, and as the 36th President of the United States.

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 89-10) at the former Junction Elementary School in Stonewall, Texas, where he first attended school. Later that year, he also signed the Higher Education Act (P.L. 89-329), which was the first program approved by the U.S. Congress for scholarships to undergraduate students.

Read the Department of Education announcement on the event at www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/09/09172007.html.