Federal Updates

Congress approves ECASLA extension
Congress has approved H.R. 6889, which extends through the 2009-10 academic year the loan purchase commitment program and loan participation purchase program authorized under the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA).

Reauthorization: Consumer information and disclosures
Shoptalk Online continues its series of articles focusing on the details of select provisions of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), the legislation that amends and extends the Higher Education Act (HEA). In this article we provide a high-level overview of the changes in the information that a school must provide to its prospective students, current students, and/or borrowers.

TG Updates

National initiative enhances English-Spanish glossary
The fourth edition of the English-Spanish glossary of terms relating to access to higher education is now available in portable document format (PDF) and as a searchable online database. The glossary — which aims to promote greater consistency in the vocabulary used in Spanish-language materials about higher education — now includes approximately 2,500 terms.

Product manager Teresa Bobadilla helps design TG services to meet school and lender needs
One of TG's newest products, List Assist^SM, will help schools generate lender lists with more flexibility and ease. List Assist provides an automated, online process for creating surveys with which to gather lender data. A person pivotal to the process of designing and producing List Assist is TG product manager Teresa Bobadilla.

TG's Frequently Asked Questions brochure provides quick answers to many federal student loan questions
Student loans can be confusing to first-time borrowers. You can anticipate many of the questions that your students and parents may have and provide quick answers with TG's updated brochure, Frequently Asked Questions.

Trends and Issues

Question of the week
Is a borrower required to complete a new master promissory note (MPN) when he or she changes guarantors?

This, That, and the Other...

The college textbook industry is undergoing something of a change thanks to the Web. More professors are placing the books they author online, which students can then download or view for free. They're also offering course materials through a growing list of Web sites that charge nothing or a minimal fee for download or viewing rights. Web sites like Connexions even allow professors and students to collaborate in editing and re-writing material à la open source sites like Wikipedia.

Textbook companies are also getting into the act, offering services such as CourseSmart, a Web site that lets students subscribe to a textbook and read it online, with the option of highlighting and printing out portions.

To learn more about this growing trend in textbook publishing, read the complete New York Times article at www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/technology/15link.html?ref=education.