TG Updates

Industry issues, regulatory change: Get some help with the 2008 TG Annual Training Conference

As any financial aid administrator well knows, these are turbulent times in higher education financing. Congress and ED are altering the Higher Education Act and federal regulations, loan markets are changing, and guarantors are revisiting their lender-of-last-resort programs. At times like these, an opportunity for dialogue is just what the doctor ordered, and TG offers just such an opportunity in its three-day annual training conference.

A week from this Wednesday, TG unveils its 16th annual conference, a well-planned event that focuses attention on the industry trends and regulatory issues demanding the most attention from today's financial aid professionals. This year's conference, titled "Training today, preparing for tomorrow," will be held April 23-25 in the Renaissance Austin Hotel at the Arboretum.

Assorted training tools
For this year’s event, TG planners designed a multi-track series of workshops comprised of 67 sessions on an assortment of subjects — from default prevention techniques and financial literacy to best practices for lenders and servicers. They also looked carefully at the factors influencing financial aid today and crafted particular sessions to help participants understand the issues affecting them now. Here’s a rundown of some of these trainings along with assorted others.

• Understanding the Lender of Last Resort: News headlines have focused attention on the Lender of Last Resort (LLR), which ED is reviving given the change in markets. This session provides the history and purpose of LLR; describes how LLR will be administered today; and outlines TG’s experience with LLR and its readiness to manage those responsibilities.
• Professional Judgment: This session is designed to empower the senior aid administrator in the application of professional judgment. Attendees will learn how to determine the appropriate and inappropriate use of professional judgment; how to confidently use professional judgment; and what tools are available to support and spread an understanding of the subject to staff and other select administrators.
• Effective Entrance and Exit Counseling: Participants in this session learn about the new regulations affecting entrance and exit counseling requirements for schools, and discover training tools that will help your staff provide comprehensive loan counseling to students.
• Working with the Media to Build Awareness: During this session, attendees will learn some practical tips on working with the news media in order to build financial aid awareness in the community. Participants will find out how to prepare for a television or radio interview, discover how to secure free airtime to spread the word on financial aid, and learn how to reach students and families about applying for aid.
• The RFI Challenge Panel: Attendees will leave this session with a better understanding of how others in the industry approach the Request for Information (RFI) process as well as use these documents as tools to enhance communicating FFELP information to students and parents.
• Graduate and Professional Schools Forum (Best Practices): This session will feature discussions about the challenges and opportunities that affect the delivery of student loans and financial aid at the various types of higher education institutions. Presenters will focus on sharing best practices.
• Private Loans and Economic Turmoil — What It All Means for Students: Participants in this session learn the strategies that lenders use in marketing private loans and discover what makes a well-structured private loan program. Participants will also find out about the societal impact of the costs related to private loans.

To learn more
Visit TG Online at www.tgslc.org/tgconference/index.cfm to find out more about the 2008 TG Annual Training Conference. Online registration is now closed; however, attendees can register at the hotel during the event. Registration fees are waived for school attendees. Note that this year's conference will begin with the noon lunch-time session on Wednesday, April 23.

If you prefer to speak with someone directly, contact Judith Cunningham at (800) 252-9743, ext. 2905, or send an e-mail message to judith.cunningham@tgslc.org.

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County fairs and livestock shows: Sam Houston University's Office of Enrollment Management hits the road with student outreach message

The simple truth behind the business adage — meet the customer where they are — serves equally well in other settings — education outreach, for example. Perhaps no organization knows this better than Sam Houston State University's (SHSU) Office of Enrollment Management, which recently put its student enrollment campaign on wheels. With the help of a grant from TG's Public Benefit Grant Program, SHSU operates a 42-foot-long trailer, or mobile outreach center, called the Go Kats Go Center, criss-crossing Texas to promote higher education at assorted high schools and community events.

To a state with a large and growing population of first-generation students who may not have access to transportation or information on higher education, the Center brings a number of obvious advantages — mobility being an important one. So far this year, the Center has logged over 10,000 miles traveling to areas such as Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Corpus Christi, and outlying rural communities. According to enrollment management specialist Susie Houston, the Center makes a point of showing at informal events like county fairs.

"In these kinds of settings, we feel we can meet with students and families that would not ordinarily attend a college night at a high school, for example," said Susie. "We also show at Friday night football games, band festivals, track meets, community events, and Boy and Girl Scout meetings."

Outreach via satellite hook-up
Even in remote communities, like the Rio Grande Valley, the mobile Center comes equipped to provide an Internet's worth of information on financial aid and higher education materials — thanks to an onboard satellite link. Students and families can use the Center's 17 laptops to access Web sites like the online form of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the ApplyTexas application, and sites for the College Board or College for Texans.

The Center will supplement this Web site material with a series of spring workshops on completing the FAFSA and planning for college. They'll pay particular attention to how and where to apply for college entrance exams. And, to help students prepare for exams, the Center will highlight information on the free tutoring services offered through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Web site.

High school counselors have been thrilled with the unique outreach effort, which combines overtones of a traveling roadshow with college life, according to Susie. "The counselors are happy that we can help their students fill out college applications," said Susie. "The students are impressed when they come inside the trailer, which comes wrapped with pictures of activities that take place in college and at SHSU. It draws attention wherever we go, and people tend to want to see what we have to offer. It has been a great tool for initiating contact with people."

The informal approach also has a welcoming effect for parents and students who might otherwise feel overwhelmed by a more institutional environment. "We offer a comfortable atmosphere for families to talk to us and ask us questions that they may not feel comfortable asking their school counselors and administrators," said Susie. "We are able to help them fill out their FAFSA with confidentiality. Also, some first-generation students and families feel intimidated to ask questions at their schools. But we can offer the assistance to help them get started in the admission process."

About TG's Public Benefit Award Program
To receive funds, organizations are required to submit proposals that address the issue of access to postsecondary education for low-to-moderate income students.

To learn more
If you'd like to learn more about TG's Public Benefit Grant Program, you'll find a description of its purpose and process on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/publicbenefit/index.cfm.

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Edufacts™ considers rise in private loans

One of TG's latest Edufacts, a series of spotlight articles that TG offers on various financial aid issues and trends, examines the rise in popularity of private loans.

Affording the investment in college remains a challenge for many students and borrowers. Consider the steep rate of tuition increases over the recent past to see why: At public four-year universities, for example, tuition increased 86.6 percent from 1997 to 2007, drastically higher than the increase in earning power over the same period.

This is leading many to a new source of borrowing for college — private loans. A small fraction of the total student loan industry just a decade ago, private, or "alternative," loans have exploded in volume over the last few years. While federal loan volume has grown substantially over the past decade — by 107 percent — private lending has increased by 379 percent during the same period.

Traditional federal student loans are guaranteed by the government, have relatively low, fixed interest rates — 6.8 percent and 8.5 percent for Stafford and PLUS loans, respectively — and flexible repayment options. However, Stafford loans have low borrowing limits. First year students are limited to $3,500 for their first two semesters, and dependent undergraduates can borrow no more than $23,000 during their entire college careers.

The low borrowing limits for Federal Stafford loans may help explain the recent rapid growth of private lending, despite interest rates that can run as high as credit cart rates and may vary over the life of the loan.

The spread of private student lending worries some college financial aid professionals. They blame a lack of awareness of the differences between federal and private loans and an unwillingness to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which can seem complicated and time-consuming.

To learn more
To read the complete edition of this Edufacts, visit www.tgslc.org/edufacts/2008/edufacts_0208.cfm.

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