TG Updates

TG to host two financial literacy symposiums this summer

The ability to make smart decisions when it comes to managing money is becoming ever more important for students. Average student loan debt has doubled over the past decade, and a majority of students now have credit cards and accumulate thousands in additional debt by the time they graduate. More and more, colleges and universities are recognizing the need to teach students basic skills for financial survival and success.

TG is hosting two symposiums this summer to help schools with their financial literacy efforts. The symposiums will bring together experts from the higher education community who will discuss strategies for developing on-campus financial literacy programs. Such programs teach students crucial financial literacy skills they need to succeed in life after college.

Mark your calendar

The first symposium will be held in Houston, Texas, on Monday, June 29, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., CDT. The location will be announced at a later date. Kristy Vienne, director of Sam Houston State University's Student Money Management Center, and Mark Mielke, financial aid advisor at Texas A&M University, will share their experiences creating financial literacy programs. Among other things, they will discuss:

• Developing financial literacy initiatives,
• Implementing financial literacy strategies, and
• Improving successful financial literacy programs.

The aim of the symposiums is to generate ideas and tips that professionals can use to develop a financial literacy program best-suited for their campus and students.

The second symposium will be held in Chicago, Illinois, later this summer. Look for further details in next week’s Shoptalk Online.

To register

For more information about TG's 2009 Financial Literacy Symposiums, or to register to attend the Houston event, visit TG Online at www.tgslc.org/training/literacy.

For questions

To learn more about TG’s upcoming symposiums, contact TG’s financial literacy program manager Margie Harvey at (800) 252-9743, or send an e-mail message to margery.harvey@tgslc.org.

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TG reschedules webinars on enhanced Integrated Default Assistant™

TG has rescheduled several webinars on the latest changes to its default management tool — the Integrated Default Assistant™ (IDA™). IDA is an online interactive application used to help schools, lenders, and servicers achieve successful default aversion goals for their TG loans.

The IDA product webinars will be offered on Monday, June 15, and Tuesday, June 16. See registration information below for times.

IDA’s enhancements

IDA's query feature and pre-formatted reports allow schools, lenders, and servicers to track and manage their TG cohort default rate performance by pinpointing student populations at risk of delinquency or default.

TG has added features to IDA to make the tool even more versatile and effective, including:

• Providing the ability to forecast a three-year cohort default rate for the institution's TG loans;
• Assisting schools in identifying borrowers at risk of default based on pre-defined attributes, including graduation status and academic level; and
• Offering a filter for identifying delinquent borrowers who can affect the institution's cohort default rate for TG loans.

Webinar times

To help users incorporate these changes as a part of their institution's default aversion program, TG has scheduled several webinars.

• Monday, June 15, 2 p.m.–3 p.m., CDT

• Tuesday, June 16, 10 a.m.–11 a.m., CDT (repeat session)

To attend a webinar

To participate, register for one of the listed webinars at www.tgslc.org/training/webinars/register.cfm.

For help

For questions about IDA, please contact TG's product support team at (800) 332-1455, or send an e-mail to product.support@tgslc.org.

Stay on top of July change to loan interest rates with TG poster

Effective July 1, 2009, the fixed interest rate for undergraduate subsidized Stafford loans (FFEL and Direct) will change. For such loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, the rate is 5.6 percent. As this applies only to undergraduate students, the interest rate for subsidized Stafford loans for graduate students remains at 6.8 percent.

The interest rate for unsubsidized Stafford loans for both undergraduate and graduate students also remains at 6.8 percent.
The interest rate on FFELP PLUS loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2006, is fixed at 8.5 percent. This interest rate remains the same.

TG offers a poster to remind you of the new subsidized Stafford loan interest rate, the unsubsidized Stafford loan interest rate, and the PLUS interest rate. The poster is a simple and convenient way to inform borrowers of interest rates on federal student loans.

To order

You can order the interest rate poster by visiting TG Online at www.tgslc.org/order/index.cfm and selecting "School Resources" under "Financial Literacy and Default Aversion."

To learn more

For questions about the FFELP and the latest Stafford and PLUS interest rates, contact TG's customer assistance team at (800) 845-6267, or send an e-mail message to cust.assist@tgslc.org.

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