GSFC 411 e-newsletter [July 2011]

GSFC Board Updates
GSFC's Board of Commissioners held its spring board meeting on May 4-5, 2011. During this meeting the following items were approved.
The Board Officers were elected for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The officers are:
Mid Ramsey, Chair Pat Burd, Vice Chair Monica Cherry, Secretary Dana Russell, Treasurer
The meeting dates and locations for the 2011-2012 year were also established. The GSFC Board will be meeting:
Friday, August 5, 2011 - Tucker Friday, November 4, 2011 - Tucker Friday, February 3, 2012 - Tucker Thursday and Friday, May 3 & 4, 2012 - Location to be determined
In addition, the Board approved the 2011-2012 State Program Regulations and Implementation Schedule. The Board also approved the GSFA and GHEAC FY2012 Operating Budget.

JULY 2011 ARTICLES
GSFC Board Updates
2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
Student Access Loan Program
Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing
GSFC Recent Communications
GSFC411 ARCHIVE
February 2011 December 2010 August 2010 May 2010 March 2010 More
RELATED LINKS
GAcollege411 Partner Update
Compliance Corner Archive
Board of Regents
Technical College System of Georgia
Mapping Your Future
Department of Education
Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089
GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org

2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
The high school Transcript Exchange process for the 2011 Final HOPE GPA calculation is moving along very well. The high schools have done a good job handling this year's processing and are to be commended for their efforts. We have achieved better results than in 2010 and will again complete the process ahead of last year's schedule.
To date this year we have had 660 high schools statewide upload their transcripts. So far in 2011 processing, 97,027 graduating seniors have their GPAs calculated and their high schools have verified GPA results on 92,839 students. There are 40,977 HOPE eligible seniors this year of which 40.299 are verified. Therefore, to date 98.4% of the eligible seniors are verified by their high schools.
To assist new school personnel (and school personnel that need a refresher on the process), GSFC will once again be holding training on the transcript upload and GPA calculation process at the end of October or early November. In the near future, we will announce more information on this training.
We encourage all high schools to resume use of the HOPE Progress Report for ninth through eleventh grade students. This is an excellent avenue to communicate each student's progress toward HOPE eligibility throughout high school.
As always, if you need any support or have any questions about the Transcript or HOPE GPA process, please contact our GSFC Transcript Exchange support staff.

JULY 2011 ARTICLES
GSFC Board Updates
2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
Student Access Loan Program
Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing
GSFC Recent Communications
GSFC411 ARCHIVE
February 2011 December 2010 August 2010 May 2010 March 2010 More
RELATED LINKS
GAcollege411 Partner Update
Compliance Corner Archive
Board of Regents
Technical College System of Georgia
Mapping Your Future
Department of Education
Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089
GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org

Student Access Loan Program
The new Student Access Loan (SAL) Program is now available. The Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA) is now accepting applications. Information about the program follows:
Loan Program Information
The SAL loan program is designed to be funding of last resort for college students who have a gap in their college financing.
The interest rate on the loan is 1% and the repayment term is ten years after graduation.
Students may borrow up to $10,000 per year up to a maximum of $40,000 over their college lifetime. (See frequently asked questions).
Each loan includes an origination fee of 5% of the loan amount not to exceed a total of $50 dollars per loan. The fee is deducted equally from each disbursement.
Loan funds may be used towards any part of the student's cost of attendance.
Interest payments are required while the student is enrolled.
Student Eligibility
Students must graduate from an eligible high school with a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 2.5 in core subjects.
Students must be Georgia Residents and United States Citizens or Eligible Non-Citizens.
Students must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in accordance with the SAP policy at your college or university. Failure to maintain SAP may result in your ineligibility for this loan.
To be eligible for a SAL Program loan, students must have applied for other student financial aid including federal and state student loans, scholarships and grants.
Students will be randomly selected from the pool of all applicants.
Student must be attending an eligible college or university IN GEORGIA. Click here to see the list of eligible colleges and universities and find out if your college or university is approved for participation in the SAL Program. If your school is not presently on the list of eligible postsecondary institutions they need to contact GSFA and request participation in the program.
Important Things to Know
You must have completed a FAFSA in order to apply for this loan.
Be sure to supply your email address as that is how we are going to communicate with you.
If you apply for this loan, you are requesting an education loan that must be repaid.
GSFA will stop accepting applications on July 15th, 2011.
Borrow smart! If you apply, request only the amount of funds you need to borrow.
Disbursements are sent directly to the school.
An institution may refuse to certify the loan or may reduce the amount borrowed on a case-by-case basis.
If you have exhausted all other funding options to meet your cost of attendance, you may be eligible for this low cost loan program.
Students can apply on GAcollege411.org by selecting "The Student Access Loan Program" from the What's New box on the home page.

JULY 2011 ARTICLES
GSFC Board Updates
2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
Student Access Loan Program
Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing
GSFC Recent Communications
GSFC411 ARCHIVE
February 2011 December 2010 August 2010 May 2010 March 2010 More
RELATED LINKS
GAcollege411 Partner Update
Compliance Corner Archive
Board of Regents
Technical College System of Georgia
Mapping Your Future
Department of Education
Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089
GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org

Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing

SURFER has been updated so that invoicing for Summer FY2012 may begin. You may submit Summer FY2012 invoices online manually or through the normal invoicing file process.
Please remember that due to the HOPE Changes Implementation Schedule Summer invoicing will be closed on August 3, 2011, but re-opened from October 17 - 21, 2011. If your institution must receive Summer HOPE funds prior to October, please ensure that your Summer invoices are fully processed prior to August 3rd.
Invoicing Deadline Dates The Invoicing Deadline Dates for State Scholarship and Grant Programs for Fiscal Year 2012, including HOPE Scholarship, HOPE Grant, Zell Miller, Accel, GTEG, etc, are as follows:
HOPE Scholarship, Zell Miller Scholarship, HOPE Grant, HOPE GED, and Accel Invoicing Deadlines

Summer Semester/Quarter Fall Semester/Quarter Winter Quarter Spring Semester/Quarter

October 21, 2011 February 10, 2012 April 16, 2012 June 29, 2012

GTEG Invoicing Deadlines

Summer Semester/Quarter Fall Semester/Quarter Winter Quarter Spring Semester/Quarter

October 15, 2011 December 1, 2011 March 1, 2012 June 1, 2012

While these dates are the deadlines by which all invoices must be submitted and processed for disbursement, we encourage you to submit your invoices even earlier than the deadlines when possible, so that we can make projections and determine award rates for Fiscal Year 2013 as soon as possible.

JULY 2011 ARTICLES
GSFC Board Updates
2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
Student Access Loan Program
Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing
GSFC Recent Communications
GSFC411 ARCHIVE
February 2011 December 2010 August 2010 May 2010 March 2010 More
RELATED LINKS
GAcollege411 Partner Update
Compliance Corner Archive
Board of Regents
Technical College System of Georgia
Mapping Your Future
Department of Education
Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089
GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org

GSFC Recent Communications
State Scholarship and Grant Programs for Fiscal Year 2012 - 6/24/2011 Student Access Loan Program Implementation - 6/17/2011 School Default Aversion Annual Notification - 6/14/2011 Students Impacted by Natural Disaster in Japan - 6/1/2011 HOPE Program Changes Implementation Update - 5/12/2011

JULY 2011 ARTICLES
GSFC Board Updates
2011 Final HOPE GPA Results
Student Access Loan Program
Fiscal Year 2012 Invoicing Processing
GSFC Recent Communications
GSFC411 ARCHIVE
February 2011 December 2010 August 2010 May 2010 March 2010 More
RELATED LINKS
GAcollege411 Partner Update
Compliance Corner Archive
Board of Regents
Technical College System of Georgia
Mapping Your Future
Department of Education
Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089
GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org