Federal Updates

New information on Loan Purchase Programs
ED has released two new Electronic Announcements (E-ANN) about the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA)

Current special allowance rates: quarter ending March 31, 2009
Special allowance rates for the quarter ending March 31, 2009, are now available.

TG Updates

Conference spotlight: The TG Annual Training Conference begins tomorrow
The 2009 TG Annual Training Conference kicks off tomorrow, April 22, at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Shoptalk Online celebrates 500th edition
This week, Shoptalk Online marks its 500th, or quincentenary, edition.

New Positive+Balance™ presentation helps students prepare for car ownership
For most students, a car is the most expensive purchase they will make until they buy a house. There are many different factors first-time car buyers should consider to find the right car that matches their personal needs and financial situation. A new Positive+Balance™ financial literacy presentation can help make a student's first car-buying experience a good one.

Mark your calendar for TG's industry webinar series
Since its debut in February, TG's new industry webinar series has garnered enthusiastic responses from customers across the country. Many have asked for a complete schedule for the remainder of the year, so that they can be certain not to miss future webinar training opportunities.

TG product enhancement presentations now available
Over the last three weeks, TG has offered various webinars for recent product enhancements implemented in AdvanTG Web™ and TG Loans By Web™. TG has placed presentations for the webinars online for those customers who were not able to join in the webinars or for those who just did not get a chance to download the presentation during the webinars.

TG offers resources for National Financial Literacy Month
Both Houses of Congress officially recognize April as Financial Literacy Month, a time to promote the value of strong money management skills, especially to young adults. TG joins with colleges and universities across the country as they offer their students valuable information on financial literacy.

Trends and Issues

Income-Based Repayment: Webinar on lender and servicer issues
The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) has announced the next training opportunity in its series of webinars focusing on the new Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan that will be available to borrowers beginning July 1, 2009.

This, That, and the Other...

A recent study presented at the "Rethinking Admissions" conference at Wake Forest University considered the effectiveness of various forms of test preparation for college admissions. The study found that all kinds of test preparation, including books, computer software, high school courses, and private courses, tend to increase students' SAT scores. However, private instruction, the most expensive option, was generally also the most effective. On average, students who took private SAT-preparation classes scored 60 points higher on the exam than did those without such classes.

Read the complete article in the Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/news/index.php?id=6323&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en. Note that some articles in the Chronicle are available only to subscribers.