Federal Updates

Loan purchase programs guidance
ED released Electronic Announcements (E-ANN) #31 and #32 regarding the implementation of the loan purchase programs authorized by the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA).

ED releases final volume of the 2008-09 FSA Handbook — TG offers complete bookmarked version
With the release of Volume 3 of the new 2008-09 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook) — Calculating Awards and Packaging — all volumes of the latest edition of the FSA Handbook are now available.

Reauthorization: Lender disclosure requirements
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) made significant changes to the types and amounts of disclosures that lenders must provide to prospective and current FFELP borrowers. This article provides a summary of those disclosures, which must be provided at each phase of the life of the loan.

TG Updates

TG webinars to profile new lender survey tool, List Assist^SM
Are you looking for a convenient, electronic way to gather lender information for a recommended or suggested lender list? TG's forthcoming product, List Assist^SM, can help. TG will offer two webinars on List Assist in early November.

TG and Council to host a "School Dialogue on Student Debt Management"
Most students borrow to go to college, and many accumulate large amounts of debt before they graduate. A financial burden like this in today's economy leaves many graduates vulnerable to challenges during repayment, including delinquency and even default. TG and the Council for the Management of Educational Finance are working together to help. With TG's support, the Council is hosting a webinar on best practices in student debt management.

Keep May and June grads on track to repayment with TG's brochures and collateral
Six months after collecting their diploma, your spring graduates face another milestone of sorts — the end of their grace period for Federal Stafford loans they hold. By November 30, most such borrowers will enter repayment. You can help them make good on their financial obligation with printed materials that anticipate their questions and define their options in paying back loans.

This, That, and the Other...

Gas prices remain high enough to make many students think twice about commutes or extended trips. At the same time, college campuses are becoming more like small cities, supporting a peripatetic population of students who take over campus roads and parking lots each semester. Some schools are taking a proactive approach to both issues by offering free or discounted bikes to students.

Schools like the University of New England and Ripon College in Wisconsin are providing bikes at no cost to freshmen who promise to leave their cars at home. Other colleges are setting up bike-sharing or rental programs, and some universities are even partnering with bike shops to offer discounts on purchases. The goal, according to college and university officials, is to ease the shortage of parking and to change the car culture that clogs campus roadways and erodes the community feel that comes with walking or biking around campus.

To read more about the trend on some campuses, read the complete New York Times article at www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/education/20bikes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=education&pagewanted=print.