Federal Updates

ED releases revised loan purchase agreements
ED posted revised versions of the Master Participation Agreement (MPA) and the Master Loan Sales Agreement (MLSA) to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

Closed school corner
The Department of Education announces four new closures.

TG Updates

TG sets dates for 2009 Financial Aid Leadership Symposium
TG has set training dates for the 2009 Financial Aid Leadership Symposium, which will be held February 2-6, in Round Rock, Texas.

Chris Scott, TG's segment manager for lenders, brings a decade of expertise to his job
TG devotes many resources to creating its products and services, including specialists in technology, sales, policy, customer service, and other areas. One person helps to guide the work of all these teams as they develop services for lenders — TG's Chris Scott.

Order TG's updated brochure on FFELP borrowing
TG's Your Guide to Borrowing for an Education brochure offers a chart of the new Stafford loan maximums, detailing what amounts students can borrow by year and by student type. It also includes an interest rate table, listing the interest rates for subsidized Stafford loans by disbursement date for the next several years.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
For the purpose of verification, may a school accept a tax return with a stamp of the name, address, and telephone number of the company that prepared the return in lieu of the filer's signature, if a student or parent's tax return is completed by a tax preparer?

Correction to Shoptalk Online's Question of the Week on loan limits
The Question of the Week in the July 1, 2008, edition of Shoptalk Online included some incorrect information in the initial transmission of the issue.

This, That, and the Other...

It's a common piece of advice to consumers: Shop around for the best deal. But students and their parents in the market for a private student loan should be careful. The more they look for the best deal from a lender, the more their credit score could potentially suffer.

Mortgage and auto loan seekers who comparison-shop within a relatively short period of time do not see their credit scores drop. But Fair Isaac, the company that helps credit bureaus calculate credit scores, does not extend the same break to private student loan applicants or their parents, who often co-sign for loans.

Each time a shopper asks for a quote from a lender, the lender files a credit report request with one of the credit bureaus. Multiple credit inquiries are a red flag, according to Fair Isaac. A series of inquiries indicates a borrower who may be floundering financially and applying for loans to prevent bankruptcy. Therefore, Fair Isaac's systems will calculate a lower credit score for such a borrower. Lenders may then turn around and quote the borrower a higher interest rate.

Find out more about the potential liability to students and parents by reading the complete New York Times article on the topic at www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business/yourmoney/26money.html?em&ex=1217131200&en=a347b9f406d249f6&ei=5087%0A.