TG Updates

TG works with families and students to overcome barriers to college
Many lower-income students have neither the support at home nor encouragement from peer groups to enroll in college. They also often believe college is financially unattainable. TG is striving to help these students with a variety of online and in-person resources. TG's work in Texas illustrates just how TG is reaching out to families and students.

TG offers sessions on IBR, financial literacy, and more at the 2009 TASFAA Fall Conference
The 2009 Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (TASFAA) Fall Conference offers three days of focused training on legislative change and industry practice. At this year's event, TG will present five workshops on a variety of regulatory topics as well as professional development subjects such as leadership in times of transition.

Mark your calendar for TG's upcoming industry webinars
In the next several months, TG will offer a variety of webinars on legislative, regulatory, and policy issues. As with all TG training webinars, these events will be offered free of charge to the financial aid community.

Using the Return to Title IV funds change transaction
To return Title IV funds, most schools follow CommonLine protocol, creating change transactions that follow specific standards for the exchange of data. To help schools as they create these transactions, Shoptalk Online provides a short refresher course on the Return to Title IV funds change transaction.

TG's Real Time Access offers instant answers to your TG loan and disbursement questions
Available through AdvanTG Web™, RTA provides a direct connection to TG's mainframe and allows schools, lenders, and servicers to view loan history and data, including guarantee date, school and lender ID, scheduled disbursement dates and amounts, loan status, and much more.

Trends and Issues

Cohort default rates: Special situations
In this article, Shoptalk Online explores some of the more unusual or confusing aspects of the cohort default rate (CDR) calculation. Much of the information provided is based on ED's Cohort Default Rate Guide and Cohort Default Rate Guide Quick Reference.

Policy potpourri
How is a school's cohort default rate (CDR) affected if a student borrower rehabilitates his or her Stafford loan(s) to bring them out of default?

This, That, and the Other...

Textbooks represent a growing portion of educational costs, one which some schools are trying to reduce by offering an online alternative. The University Press of Florida recently began providing free online textbooks for its students. Students can now go online to read books for classes in such topics as math, biology, history, chemistry, and more. The online option could save upwards of $500 a semester for students enrolled in survey classes, according to administrators. Learn more about this textbook bargain for students at the University of Florida.