Federal Updates

Technical corrections bill hodgepodge
In recent weeks, Shoptalk Online has reported on various changes made to the Higher Education Act by H.R. 1777, which was signed into law on July 1. Many of the changes are related to provisions found in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA). This article focuses on additional H.R. 1777 changes not previously discussed.

ED releases Volume 1 of the 2009-10 Federal Student Aid Handbook
ED has published Volume 1: Student Eligibility, of the 2009-10 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook).

Closed school corner
The Department of Education announces one new closure.

TG Updates

Register now for TG's second financial literacy symposium of 2009
TG's symposiums offer a forum for sharing practices on how to design an effective campus financial literacy program. The second TG 2009 Financial Literacy Symposium will be held in Chicago on July 21.

Keep your students informed about repayment with TG's new brochures on IBR and repayment plan options
As students transition from college to career, it's vital to keep them aware of any federal student loan obligations they take with them. TG offers two new brochures to help students explore the variety of repayment options available — one on Income-Based Repayment and one on repayment plan options.

There's still time to register for this week's Federal Update webinar
It's not too late to register for TG's industry training webinar scheduled for July 16. The webinar will feature information on the latest legislative and regulatory changes.

TG releases the summer edition of Enrollment Management Journal now
In collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, TG has published the summer edition of the scholarly publication, the Enrollment Management Journal: Student Access, Finance, and Success in Higher Education.

Trends and Issues

Policy potpourri
What's the difference between the new Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan and Income-Sensitive Repayment (ISR) plan?

This, That, and the Other...

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released the findings of its second annual Great Colleges to Work For survey. More than 240 schools — both 4-year and 2-year institutions — completed the survey process. Results were based on responses from nearly 41,000 administrators, faculty members, and staff members. The survey recognizes colleges for various best practices and policies, including those affecting compensation, benefits, and faculty-administration relations. Thirty-nine colleges were named to an Honor Roll, a new survey feature. The Honor Roll highlights the top 10 colleges in each size category based on the number of times they were recognized in the individual recognition categories. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received recognition was the employee feedback collected from faculty and staff members.

To learn more about the survey's results, read the complete Chronicle of Higher Education article online. Note that some articles in the Chronicle are available only to subscribers.