Federal Updates

Taking a closer look at the final rules: Entrance counseling for Grad PLUS borrowers
Shoptalk Online launches a new series of articles focusing on some of the more troublesome areas of the new final rules. We will begin by addressing one of the new requirements that has prompted sighs of both relief and consternation: entrance counseling for Grad PLUS borrowers.

2008 poverty guidelines released
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated the United States federal poverty guidelines in the Federal Register dated January 23, 2008.

TG Updates

Dena Dobson joins TG as regional account executive for Illinois
TG recently brought on board Dena Dobson as a regional account executive for Illinois.

TG and St. Edward's University announce workshop on promoting student academic success
TG is pleased to announce that St. Edward's University will host the Educational Policy Institute's (EPI) Student Success Workshop in Austin, Texas.

TG hosts webinar on using technology to reach first-generation families
EduGuide: Partnership for Learning conducts research on just how best to use the latest Web-based technologies to connect first-generation students with financial aid information and resources. TG supports this work with a grant from its Public Benefit Grant Program. On Wednesday, January 16, TG hosted a webinar conducted by EduGuide’s founder, Bryan Taylor, during which he shared some of the organization’s research findings.

Tech Report

TG adds loan fee information to disbursement screens in Real Time Access
In December 2007, TG's Board of Directors voted to continue to subsidize the 1 percent federal default fee for Federal Stafford and PLUS loans for student and parent borrowers for the 2008-09 award year. Recently, TG added this fee information to certain disbursement screens in Real Time Access (RTA), its application and loan processing system that provides school and lender customers access in real time to their loan information with TG.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
What do a Dear Colleague Letter's (DCL) numbers and letters mean?

This, That, and the Other...

Are helicopter parents — those mothers and fathers who can't let go and stay involved in every aspect of their children's lives at college — just a myth? According to an annual survey of college freshmen recently released by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, a large majority of freshmen at four-year institutions think that their parents are involved as much as they should be.

At the same time, the survey found some key differences among students in different racial and ethnic groups in attitudes about parental involvement. Generally, white students are the least likely to want more parental involvement, while Latino students are most likely to want more. The UCLA survey, the largest of its kind, is generally considered the best indicator of attitudes of freshmen as they arrive on campuses.

Find out more about this year's survey by reading the complete article on Inside Higher Ed at www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/24/frosh.