Federal Updates

ED delays release of Master Agreements
ED announced that it has delayed its posting of the Master Sales Agreement and the Master Participation Agreement that will be used to implement ED’s loan purchase and participation plans under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA).

Official Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published
ED recently released an unofficial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) addressing various loan-related provisions enacted by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA).

Remaining 2008-09 interest rates released
Two categories of interest rates were announced at the end of June — interest rates for older PLUS and SLS loans; and interest rates for the HEAL portion of Federal Consolidation loans.

TG Updates

TG hosts Financial Literacy Counseling Symposium
On Friday, June 27, TG brought together financial literacy experts and financial aid administrators in a unique one-day seminar — the 2008 TG Financial Literacy Counseling Symposium.

TG's Positive+Balance™ overview video available online
TG’s Positive+Balance™ consists of training sessions on a variety of financial literacy topics, including budgeting and saving and using credit wisely. TG recently created a video to provide an introduction to the training series.

With a grant from TG, Ursuline College offers science help to high school seniors
Colleges and universities recognize the need for offering students a strong foundation in the sciences. Ursuline College, a 4-year private college based outside of Cleveland, has designed a unique program for helping high school seniors prepare for college, and particularly for science coursework. Called Science FIRST (Focusing Interest in Real-life Science and Technology), the program helps high school seniors, especially first-generation students, make a smooth transition to a college science curriculum.

TG and Mapping Your Future® announce updates to system
Mapping Your Future (MYF) recently made changes to its Online Student Loan Counseling system in order to better meet the needs of participating schools and students.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
Does a 22-year-old student who was married — and thus independent — last year but is divorced this year remain independent for federal student aid purposes?

This, That, and the Other...

You've probably heard something about green vacations, green activism, even green technology. Add to that growing list "green curriculum." The environmental movement is having an effect on many parts of society, including college classrooms, according to a Washington Post article.

The University of Maryland offers landscape architects a class on "green" real estate strategies. Business graduate students of the University of Virginia recently created a way to produce power in rural Indian villages using discarded rice husks. Architecture students at Catholic University have converted old shipping containers into material for their home models. And hundreds of university presidents have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging to take leadership on eliminating greenhouse gases. The trend isn't without its critics in academia, who see the embrace of "green thinking" in classrooms and school projects as too political.

Find out more about the debate by reading the complete article at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/21/AR2008062101673.html?nav=rss_education.