$50 Billion in Federal Aid Available for College Students Each Year; TG Offers Free Workshop to Help Students, Families Complete Federal Financial Aid Application Process.

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Each year, the government awards more than $50 billion in federal student aid to college students. Even so, a recent study from the American Council on Education has shown that nearly half of all college students fail to complete the free application that would determine their eligibility for financial aid.

On February 5 from 7-8 p.m. (CST), TG will host The FAFSA Made Easy, a video program to help students and families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is the first step students must complete to determine their eligibility to receive the grants, work-study and student loans that may be available to them. There is no cost to participants attending the event, and several host sites will be presenting the event in Spanish as well.

"Completing the FAFSA, which is composed of approximately 100 questions, can be a lengthy process," said Richard Sapp, TG's director of pre-college success. "However, the program is designed to help remove some of the frustration by explaining some of the more complicated issues and pointing out the potential pitfalls and common errors for students and their parents."

In addition to going through the FAFSA, high school seniors viewing the teleconference at host sites can enter their names into a drawing to win one of several $500 scholarships from TG.

To find a listing of available host sites for the broadcast, students and parents should go to TG's public service Web site, Adventures in Education, at www.AIE.org.

"Organizations interested in serving as community host sites still have time to register. I encourage them to call and make a difference in the lives of students in their communities," said Sapp.

Any business, organization, school, or civic group interested in serving as a host site should call 800-252-9743, ext. 2865 or send an e-mail message to [e-mail].

TG is a public, nonprofit corporation that helps create access to higher education for millions of families and students through its role as an administrator of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Its vision is to be the premier source of information, financing, and assistance to help all families and students realize their educational and career dreams. Additional information about TG can be found online at www.tgslc.org. This press release can be downloaded from www.tgslc.org/newsroom/.