TASFAA Board of Directors Meeting

TG-Guarantor Partner Report

February 11, 2013

The TG Student Success Leadership Symposium was held from February 5-8, 2013 with 13 student services personnel registered. 11 are from Texas schools 1 from The Coordinating Board and 1 from a national school. The symposium received very high value marks from the participants. TASFAA President-Dana Mingo gave graduation remarks which were also well received.
The TG FY13 LSA Committee met for a productive orientation and meeting on November 7-8. The attendance was good with lively discussion about issues facing the student aid industry from a state and federal level. The next meeting is scheduled for February 13th.
The TG National School Committee also met while at the FSA Conference and had a productive meeting including discussion on federal issues facing the student aid community. The next meeting is scheduled for March 5, 2013 by conference call.
The TG Annual Training Conference is scheduled for April 23-25 at the Austin Omni Southpark and planning and agenda preparation is well underway. On-line registration is open and active. TG is requesting assistance from schools on show casing programs or products that have provided exceptional service or other efficiencies for students or campuses. TG will be highlighting these schools, individuals and programs during the conference. The registration fees are similar to last year whereby 3 day, 2 day or 1 day flexible fees available. We have a great group of experts from the DOE, state legislative officials and other well known industry experts such as the NASFAA President/CEO on the agenda.
The collaborative regional training with TASFAA, THECB and TG seems to be going well with 3 sessions completed. San Antonio had 65 attendees, Ft. Worth, 40 attendees and Dallas 74. The overall ratings of the Ft. Worth and Dallas sessions were 4.4 and 4.33 respectively. No information on overall rating with San Antonio at time of report completion.
TG’s bill (SB653) has been officially filed. We are expecting our state representative (Larry Gonzalez) to sponsor the bill in the House and Senator Zaffirini to carry the bill in the Senate.
TG’s Board recently approved an additional $15 million to the states Texas Grant Program, bringing the total contribution to $35 million since 2011. The latest contribution is intended to help close the financial need gap that may exist for Texas students qualified for the program in the 2013-14 academic year.
George Torres has completed the introduction of the Texas Coalition white paper that he is initiating on behalf of the higher education associations. Some of the key topics included in the paper will be reforming the Pell Grant Program, the impact on Texas Students of revised repayment plans as well as issues associated with changes to Part B-Loan Program language. George is expecting to have draft language ready for input and editing by all association parties in early March.
George Torres and several other TG management personnel attended a meeting several weeks ago in Senator Royce West’s office regarding student loan default rates and student borrowing in general. There were representatives from numerous university systems, private universities, community colleges, proprietary schools, and legislative staff in attendance. The intent of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of the legislature mandating the development of a “calculator for student loans similar to a mortgage calculator”. TG recently released the first phase of a product that we think may meet the need of the office which is being explored. This tool would allow middle school, high school and postsecondary education offices to explore with students the impact of borrowing certain amounts and estimated monthly payments to expect. The tool is planned to also have a feature that estimates income from types of majors so that students will clearly understand the economics of repaying loans based on their educational attainment and field of study. More discussion will occur on this tool and usage in future meetings. This tool was also a result of a study done by our Research team on how choice of program is a key factor that students need to better understand before borrowing above the capacity to repay. This tool was introduced to the LSA, NSC, The Council and the Community College Center Advisory Committee in November. The report was also highlighted in a session at the TASFAA conference and development of the tool was mentioned.
Another tool recently made available is for high schools and colleges to monitor the FAFSA completion rate at Texas high schools. High schools can use this for examination of completion rates for their students and colleges can use it to monitor the FAFSA completion rates of their feeder high schools. The data are updated every two weeks. More information and usage can be received from TG’s AIE webpage. TG school fact sheets also contain information regarding FAFSA completion and feeder high schools for Texas Colleges.
TG is also involved in conversations with THECB and representatives from UT-Austin with Congressman-Elect Castro regarding the B-on-Time Loan and the need to get it exempted from the PLA. There is a request to adopt a proposal by state student loan groups, including Texas, to modify the Higher Education Opportunity Act, Section 151 (8) and (10). Its approval would exempt state-based supplemental loan programs from being considered part of a preferred lender arrangement. A recent letter from Senator Zaffirini to Senator Cornyn emphasizes that while there is agreement that we must protect students from being subjected to less than favorable student loan programs, the current version of Section 151 unduly restricts state based loans and hinders their effectiveness.
TG is finalizing details with a third party vendor to release the annual customer satisfaction survey. Please provide your feedback if called upon by the vendor. It is important for us to understand our effectiveness in providing tools and services that are beneficial to your school or the industry in general as well as where there could be improvement to better meet your needs. The survey should be administered by late February.