October 27, 2009 - Edition 527 TG
Shoptalk

Industry Update

ED publishes final rules for accreditation and institutional eligibility
ED published final rules resulting from Team III negotiations that occurred during the spring 2009 Negotiated Rulemaking sessions. These new rules, which are effective July 1, 2010, make several changes relating to accrediting agencies and institutional eligibility as described below.

ED to correct Perkins loan limits in 2009-10 FSA Handbook — TG offers revised version
ED's 2009-10 Federal Student Aid Handbook (FSA Handbook), which is posted on its IFAP website, incorrectly states Perkins annual and aggregate loan limits that were increased by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and became effective August 14, 2008. TG's bookmarked, and easily searched PDF of compiled volumes, has been corrected.

TG Report

TG to offer one-of-a-kind leadership training for financial aid managers and supervisors
TG has set training dates for the 2010 Financial Aid Leadership Symposium. TG's Symposium is unique in many regards. Participants of the Symposium learn some of the basic concepts of leadership - including managing performance, building a team, and communicating clearly. But, more importantly, they understand how to apply these concepts in the context of a financial aid office.

TG's new "True Cost Calculator" demonstrates the long-term cost of using credit cards
To help explain the extended costs of purchasing on credit to students, TG offers the True Cost Calculator. The True Cost Calculator demonstrates how buying an item and making minimum payments at a high interest rate can inflate the item's cost and lengthen the repayment time.

List Assist℠ to offer alternative lender survey support
TG's List Assist℠ provides an online tool for managing surveys used in creating a lender list. On October 30, TG will launch an enhanced version of List Assist that will allow schools and lenders to administer surveys for alternative, also known as private, student loans.

Listen in on TG's upcoming industry training webinars
Registration is open for next month's TG industry training webinar events, which focus on timely and important issues in the financial aid industry, including FFELP and Direct Loan Discharge and Forgiveness.

Policy Report

Ask the Policy Expert
What percentage of Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) allocation is a school permitted to transfer to its Federal Work-Study (FWS) allocation this year?

Tell us what you think of Shoptalk's new look
TG wants to know your thoughts on the restyled Shoptalk. Please contact us with your comments and feedback.

Smart Solutions
What's in a credit score? Teach your students the elements of a credit score, including how a score is calculated, by directing them to Adventures In Education's "Understanding Credit Scores."
News Briefs

New applications for the iPhone or other mobile phones appear on the market every week, many created by enterprising college students. A Yale student, with the help of several high school students, has taken advantage of the GPS — or Global Positioning System — technology integrated into the iPhone to create a campus tour of four universities — Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If approved by Apple, the four tours will be available for purchase and download soon. The application tracks the position of people touring one of the four universities. Users simply hold the iPhone up to a given campus landmark and press a dot on the screen to view a short capsule description of the building or location. Read more about this new self-guided way of touring a campus.