Federal Updates

Reauthorization: School code of conduct
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) made significant changes to the contents of a school's Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with ED. One of those changes requires a school that participates in a Title IV loan program to develop a code of conduct with which the school's officers, employees, and agents must comply.

ECASLA quarterly participant yield rate
In accordance with the Master Participation Agreement for the loan participation purchase program authorized by the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA), ED has released E-ANN #30, announcing a 3.37 percent participant yield rate for the current quarter.

NSLDS Newsletter #20 available
ED released NSLDS Newsletter #20, which announces new National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) security enhancements and tools to assist Primary Destination Point Administrators (PDPAs) in researching potential security violations at their organizations.

Closed school corner
The Department of Education announces two new closures.

TG Updates

Register for the Fall TG Users Group Meeting
The Fall 2008 TUG meeting is scheduled to be held November 7 at the Common Center in Austin, Texas. The agenda emphasizes an open dialogue between customers and TG team members and covers a variety of items.

TG redesigns financial literacy area of AIE™
Adventures In Education (AIE™) provides a rich assortment of financial literacy tools that teach students the basics of money management. TG recently reorganized the content to make navigation more intuitive. At the same time, the Web pages got a fresh new look designed to attract high school students and college students.

AIE™ calendar helps you keep students on the college track
Adventures In Education (AIE™) offers a new calendar to promote higher education awareness. Designed for high school counselors, the 2008-09 AIE School-Year Calendar highlights AIE's college planning resources and features timely tips that can help counselors prepare students for college.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
Where can a school find guidance on becoming a participant in the TEACH Grant Program?

This, That, and the Other...

The Department of Education recently unveiled a new website, College.gov, geared to inspire students with stories and information as they plan, prepare, and pay for college.

Approximately 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs require some postsecondary education. The College.gov website emphasizes the benefits of a college degree and describes how to take advantage of those benefits through careful planning.

The site features video profiles of students who overcame obstacles to go to college. It also offers an interactive tool for creating a roadmap that details the steps to college. Content is organized so that students can quickly find answers to common questions about higher education, including "Why Go?", "What to Do?" and "How to Pay?" The site also relies on more graphics designed to appeal to a younger audience.

To learn more about the site, visit www.college.gov.