USA Funds Update

Latest ‘USA Funds Education Partnerships’ Newsletter Available
USA Funds^® has issued the latest edition of a quarterly newsletter highlighting USA Funds’ support of programs that enhance preparation for, access to and success in higher education. The summer-2006 issue of “USA Funds Education Partnerships” includes stories about the EduCat, a mobile classroom USA Funds has donated to children’s hospitals; USA Funds employees’ participation in a local Big Brothers Big Sisters “Big for a Day” event; and enhancing access to education for hospitalized children. Download a copy of the newsletter using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Operations Bulletin

Policy Frequently Asked Question: Providing Loan Counseling for Graduate- and Professional-Student PLUS-Loan Borrowers
USA Funds’ policy advisers provide guidance regarding whether schools must provide loan counseling for their graduate and professional students who borrowed Federal PLUS loans. Read more.

Lenders With Borrowers Now Ineligible for Hurricane Discharge Should Contact USA Funds’ Guarantor-Servicer
The U.S. Department of Education recently advised that some borrowers incorrectly were deemed eligible for education-loan discharges as students of schools affected by the 2005 hurricanes. USA Funds notes the steps that these students’ lenders should follow. Read more.

USA Funds Outlines New Disbursement Procedure for Students Studying Outside the United States
New requirements mandate that guarantors and lenders implement new disbursement-approval procedures for students in study-abroad programs or attending foreign schools. USA Funds provides guidance regarding its new process. Learn more.

Department Issues Expanded List of Majors Eligible for SMART Grants
The U.S. Department of Education issued an updated list of academic majors that are eligible for the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant Program. In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-06-15, the Department notes that the revised list includes some majors inadvertently omitted from the original list it announced. The letter also indicates that additional changes to the list may be forthcoming based on public comments to the recently released interim final regulations.

Correction: Guidance Regarding Identity-Theft Discharges
The Aug. 29 USA Funds Education Access Report article noting interim final regulations regarding identity-theft loan discharges incorrectly stated certain responsibilities that lenders have in the identity-theft-discharge process. Read the updated story, revised to reflect the correction.

Debt-Management Perspectives

Reminder: USA Funds Debt Manager Cohort-Year Date to Change Oct. 1
USA Funds Debt Manager^® users may need to check their settings in the online tool when the federal cohort-reporting period for 2006 begins on Oct. 1, 2006. Read more.