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TG Updates
TG works with families and students to overcome barriers to college
A recent White House study found that a lack of income and information are the chief obstacles to students seeking a college education. Students from lower-income backgrounds were especially vulnerable to these challenges. Many such 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.
Financial barriers in Texas
According to data in TG's State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas, more than a third of college undergraduates in Texas come from families with lower-income backgrounds (less than $40,000 per year). More than 50 percent of students are considered independent, meaning they may be 24 years old or older, married, or have dependents of their own, and do not receive financial support from parents. Texas students are also likely to be the first in their families to pursue an education beyond high school.
"The thought of enrolling in and paying for college can be overwhelming for some families and students," said Richard Sapp, TG director of pre-college success. "Using TG's online resources, students can find the information to help them overcome the barriers to college access and success."
TG's online support
According to Sapp, some of the anxiety felt by families can be attributed to a lack of knowledge of the college application and financial aid processes. TG provides help, including information on college admissions, through its public service Web site, Adventures In Education (www.AIE.org). Adventures In Education offers a variety of tools to help families and students in their educational pursuits, including:
- A scholarship search engine;
- Federal student loan information;
- A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) instructional video in English and Spanish; and
- Information on TG's Charley Wootan Grant Program, which offers scholarships to aspiring students.
A personal touch
For families and students who need additional help, TG provides support through the TG Ambassador Program. Ambassadors attend financial aid fairs and college preparation workshops at high schools, colleges, and other venues. They offer guidance on the benefits of a higher education, explain the financial aid and admissions processes, and direct students to additional resources.
In collaboration with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), TG operates the Texas Financial Aid Information Center (TFAIC), a toll-free call center serving as a single point of contact for Texas families and students. TG team members provide assistance in English and Spanish, addressing questions related to the college admissions and financial aid processes.
Find out more
TFAIC can be reached at (888) 311-8881. For more information related to TG's services, visit TG Online.
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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. Held from October 7-9 in Dallas, the conference features sessions on student financial literacy, default prevention, and the newest repayment option — Income-Based Repayment.
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. Be sure to join your TG colleagues at these seminars, each of which has been crafted to answer questions and spur dialogue.
- Best Practices in Customer Service
Over years of work with financial aid administrators, TG has developed a list of customer service principles designed specifically for financial aid offices. In this workshop, participants will identify specific steps and procedures that have proven successful in implementing good customer service. They will also take away dozens of best practices and a copy of TG's new publication, Customer Service in Financial Aid, which reinforces the link between customer service and student recruitment and retention.
- Building a Successful Financial Literacy Program
More than ever, students must understand the basic principles of money management in order to make smart financial choices. This workshop will provide student aid professionals with critical information and skills to create and sustain a campus-based financial literacy program. Participants will explore strategies for developing a financial literacy initiative. They'll also learn how to identify areas for improvement, take away best practices from specific case studies, and hear about TG's financial literacy tools and solutions.
- College Access and Affordability Campaign
TG works to educate students and families about the importance of higher education and how they can obtain and finance a college education. During this panel presentation, you will learn how TG connects with families about higher education, using radio, TV, DVDs, and print media. The panel features members of the financial aid community, collegiate outreach specialists from both secondary and postsecondary institutions, and a media representative.
- Income-Based Repayment
Income-Based Repayment (IBR), the newest student loan repayment plan, may potentially benefit a variety of borrowers by minimizing monthly payments and, in some cases, providing loan forgiveness. Educating borrowers about this repayment plan and its benefits will be important to realizing IBR's full potential. This session presents a high-level introduction to the IBR plan, including how borrowers qualify for IBR, the forgiveness component of IBR, the benefits IBR provides to the borrower and the school, and ideas for educating borrowers about IBR.
- Leading Your Team Through Challenging Times
If you're struggling with the pace of industry change, you're not alone. Many financial aid offices face challenges in multiple areas, including budgets, work load, and technology. To help lead your team through these times, TG offers a fun, interactive workshop featuring various exercises for individuals and small groups.
To learn more
Would you like to learn more about the many training opportunities TG offers through its Speakers Bureau? Visit www.tgslc.org/speakers/index.cfm to review the complete training catalog. Keep in mind that TG can tailor training to meet the needs of your financial aid office. To schedule a program, contact your TG account executive at (800) 892-1357, or send an e-mail message to relationship.management@tgslc.org.
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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. Here are short synopses of each session.
- Managing Your Cohort Default Rate (Monday, October 5, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Central Time)
In this webinar, participants will learn how a school's CDR is calculated and how the HEOA has affected CDRs, including the shift from a two-year to a three-year calculation. The webinar will explore the benefits for schools with low default rates and the consequences of higher default rates. Participants will also learn about TG's Integrated Default Assistant™ (IDA™) and how it can help schools to manage their CDR.
- Getting Familiar with Electronic Resources (Thursday, October 15, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Central Time)
Discover how to access and use several legislative-, regulatory-, and policy-related resources available to FFELP participants, including electronic publications, industry Web sites, and other electronic resources.
- Federal Update (Monday, November 9, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Central Time)
This session will provide information on recent activities that may affect the FFELP and other federal student aid programs. Updates on various issues will be provided, including federal common forms, Dear Colleague/Partner letters issued by the Department of Education, proposed and final federal regulations, and pending legislation.
- FFELP and Direct Loan Discharge and Forgiveness (Thursday, November 19, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Central Time)
Federal loan discharge and forgiveness programs provide borrowers with debt relief in certain circumstances. Generally, discharges help borrowers who are experiencing serious life disruptions, and forgiveness programs encourage borrowers to work in certain professions, in exchange for forgiveness of all or part of their student loan debt. This webinar provides an overview of the programs available to FFELP and Direct loan borrowers.
- Entrance and Exit Counseling (Thursday, December 17, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Central Time)
Entrance and exit counseling are two of the most important tools in default aversion. Since schools are responsible for ensuring that every borrower completes the required entrance and exit counseling sessions, it is important that financial aid administrators be properly trained in meeting all statutory and regulatory counseling requirements. In this session, participants will learn the basic requirements of loan counseling, explore specific strategies for counseling students effectively, and identify resources to enhance understanding of loan counseling requirements.
To register
Registration for all of these webinars is currently available at www.tgslc.org/training/webinars/industry.cfm. Schedules for additional webinars will be published quarterly. Watch Shoptalk Online for notification of registration availability for future webinars.
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Using the Return to Title IV funds change transaction
During peak season, colleges, universities, lenders, and guarantors process billions of dollars in disbursements, often within the short timeframe of a few days. Inevitably some of these funds must be returned to the original disburser for various reasons — student ineligibility or a miscalculation in amounts, for example. 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 details
The Return to Title IV Funds change transaction, or change request, is otherwise known as a School Refund. The change transaction is submitted as a post-disbursement change transaction. For CommonLine version 4, the transaction number is @1-11; for CommonLine version 5, the transaction is an @1-28.
The School Refund change request should only be used if all of the following criteria are met —
- The student is deceased or withdraws from school; or
- The student attended at least one day of class; and
- Funds were released to the student or applied to the student's account.
If the return does not meet all of the specified criteria, the school should use another type of change request. In most cases, this will mean using the post-disbursement, full or partial, disbursement cancellation - an @1-10 for both CommonLine 4 and 5.
Change transaction help
To help schools, as well as lenders and servicers, in successfully processing a variety of change requests, TG offers two useful resources which can be accessed through TG Online:
To learn more
If you have any questions about the processing of change transactions, please contact TG product support at (800) 332-1455, or send an e-mail message to product.support@tgslc.org.
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TG's Real Time Access offers instant answers to your TG loan and disbursement questions
Are there times when you would like to check the status in "real time" of a loan or a disbursement made through TG? You may have questions such as: When was the loan guaranteed? Has a disbursement been cancelled? What was the disbursement date? All of this loan information can be accessed easily and quickly through TG's Real Time Access (RTA) application.
Many functions, one tool
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. In addition, various loan updates can be performed.
Below are a few examples of how schools can use RTA to view and/or update information. (Note that a user's access level will affect his or her ability to use the application.):
- Make scheduled disbursement date and amount changes.
- Reduce a disbursement amount (pre-disbursement).
- Fully cancel disbursements (pre- and post-disbursement).
- Reinstate loans to "in school," "repayment," or "grace" status.
- Modify servicer ID and date information.
- Change EFT disbursement information.
- Schools can modify "hold/release" disbursement status.
- Lenders can approve the disbursement.
To learn more about RTA
To help users make the most of the functionality available to them, TG offers "How to" handouts for the items listed above. For more information, please contact your TG account executive at (800) 252-9743, or send an e-mail to relationship.management@tgslc.org.
If you have any technical questions about any of TG's products, please contact TG product support at (800) 332-1455, or send an e-mail message to product.support@tgslc.org.
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