Common Manual

Common Manual updates

On October 18, 2007, guarantor representatives who serve on the Common Manual Governing Board approved several changes to the Common Manual. Details on these changes and a newly updated Integrated Common Manual incorporating the changes are available online at www.tgslc.org/policy/integrated_online_manual.cfm.

Economic Hardship Deferment Eligibility Criteria
The Common Manual has been updated to align economic hardship deferment eligibility criteria with Department guidance published in the Preamble language in the Federal Register dated June 29, 1994, page 33587. A borrower is eligible for an economic hardship deferment if he or she is receiving payment or benefit under a federal or state public assistance program, such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Supplemental Security Income, Food Stamps, or state general public assistance.

Including a Retroactive Period in a Loan Period
The Common Manual has been updated to address certifying a loan that includes a retroactive period. A school may certify a borrower’s eligibility for a Stafford or PLUS loan retroactive to the beginning of the current period of enrollment for a student or parent borrower, as applicable, who, for example, requests a loan during the second or subsequent payment period in the period of enrollment. A school may also certify a borrower’s eligibility for a Stafford or PLUS loan retroactive to the beginning of the current period of enrollment in situations where a student or parent borrower, as applicable, regains eligibility after an earlier loss of eligibility due to failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress, failure to meet citizenship requirements, a default or overpayment in a Title IV program, inadvertent borrowing in excess of the Stafford annual or aggregate loan limit, or a drug-related conviction. However, a school may include a retroactive portion of the current enrollment period in a Stafford or PLUS loan period only if the student attended and completed that retroactive period on at least a half-time basis. For example, a school may certify a loan in the spring term for a fall/spring period of enrollment and include the costs for the fall term in the student's cost of attendance for the loan period, provided that the student completed the fall term on at least a half-time basis. The school must ensure that a loan period including a retroactive period does not exceed the maximum allowable loan period, and meets applicable criteria for determining the frequency of Stafford annual loan limits. If a student attended during a retroactive period on a less-than-half-time basis, a school must not include the retroactive period in the loan period or that retroactive period’s costs in the cost of attendance for the loan period.

Prorated Loan Limits
The Common Manual has been revised to clarify that loan proration is required, when applicable, for an undergraduate student who is seeking a professional credential or certification necessary for employment in a non-teaching profession. Loan proration is not required for a student completing coursework necessary for a professional credential or certification from a state if that credential or certification is required for employment as a teacher in an elementary or secondary school.

Loss of Eligibility for Special Allowance Payments
The Common Manual has been revised to clarify that any failure on the part of a lender to fulfill due diligence on a Consolidation loan may result in a loss of eligibility for any interest benefits and special allowance payments that might otherwise apply to that Consolidation loan. This change aligns Subsection 15.1.A with current language in Section 12.4.

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