Federal Updates

New loan purchase programs guidance
ED recently published Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans (ECASLA) announcement #68, which provides information about the four new servicers that have been awarded contracts to service student loans held by ED, including loans sold to ED through the Loan Purchase Programs authorized under ECASLA.

TG Updates

TG to release enhanced List Assist℠
List Assist provides schools and lenders with an online tool for generating, communicating, and tracking surveys used in creating a FFELP lender list. On August 14, TG will launch an enhanced version of List Assist, which includes a variety of processing efficiencies, many of which were suggested by users.

Plan to attend TG's webinar on IBR
If you haven't registered for TG's upcoming webinar on the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan, there's still time.

TG sets dates for 2010 Financial Aid Leadership Symposium
TG has set training dates for the 2010 Financial Aid Leadership Symposium, which will be held February 8-12, in Round Rock, Texas. TG's Symposium is a week-long professional development workshop designed to enhance the leadership skills of mid-level managers in college and university financial aid offices.

Updated integrated HEA available on TG Online
TG is pleased to announce the availability of updated integrated portions of the Higher Education Act (HEA) that incorporate changes from the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA, H.R. 4137) and technical corrections to the HEOA (H.R. 1777).

Trends and Issues

Sticky situations: Late delivery of loan funds
With this article, Shoptalk Online brings back the popular "Sticky Situations" series for an encore presentation. Today's article provides tips for handling the late delivery of Stafford or PLUS loan funds to students and parents, a common concern as the end of a term approaches.

Give yourself an entrance/exit counseling checkup
With summer drawing to a close and the beginning of the traditional fall semester just a couple of weeks away, schools will be making sure that their borrowers complete entrance and exit counseling as required by the Higher Education Act. Now is the time to double-check that the entrance and exit counseling you are providing to your students has all of the requisite components.

Policy potpourri
I understand that the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan became effective on July 1, 2009, and a borrower must be reevaluated for eligibility for partial financial hardship (PFH) every 12 months. Does this mean that if a borrower qualifies for IBR in October 2009, his or her PFH will have to be evaluated again on July 1, 2010?

This, That, and the Other...

Legislation now working its way through Congress may increase the amount of Pell grants to low-income students. However, a recent study indicates that many eligible students from low-income families aren't even aware that Pell grants are available for college. The study, conducted by a sociologist from the University of Washington, also notes that parental attitudes about college play a key role in whether a student goes to college. Among other things, the study found that parents with low income and less education are less likely to know about financial aid. These parents also tended to believe that funding for college was not easy to obtain. Find out more about the study's findings by reading the complete article available online through Inside Higher Ed.