Trellis Company - What do they do? [Explained]

Since borrowing student loans for education after school has become as common as the combination of PB and J, the options available for students have also increased multifold. This sometimes leads to too much information on the plate, in turn making it seem like a complicated mess whereas the reality is that it is not at all as dark as it seems.

To educate and enlighten you more, and to help students with successful repayment of student loans, Trellis has jumped on board to do the needful. Making your journey easier without falling into a quicksand of debts. Formerly known Texas Guaranteed Student Loans, now Trellis Company which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, is the tour guide you are looking for to enable a fruitful higher education.

Table of Contents

What is Trellis?
Trellis Initiatives
Contact information
Conclusion

What you should know about Trellis?

If you live in Texas, your day just got better. Or probably the next few years of your life as well. If you are a student or borrower who lives in Texas, you may have known Trellis Company by another name: Texas Guaranteed Student Loans.

As their former name suggests, they mainly assist students in the state of Texas with student loan repayment needs. As of November 1, 2017, they acquired a change in the name along with a new logo.

In their words, the core name ‘Trellis’ represents growth, potential, and adaptability, which are the positive traits intended to be displayed to existing customers and potential new customers. It also represents strength, guidance, and partnership, which are the positive traits of TG’s heritage that are and will always be a big part of who they are.

Having a nearly 40-year successful track record as a student loan guarantor, they have been delivering positive outcomes for all their student borrowers.

To put it in numbers, they have guaranteed over $74 million in loans to more than 4 million student borrowers and their parents, which is a strong feather in the hat.

With a process built on positive relationships and outcomes, Trellis employs an ‘advocacy and guidance’ approach to pre-collections and default prevention based on nearly 40 years of experience in higher education finance, student financial literacy, and research. They work collaboratively with students to help educate them on their options and money management strategies. Then, together with students, they develop sustainable payment plans to help bring their outstanding balances current, including tuition, so they can be returned to good standing and continue or return to their post-secondary education.

Initiatives taken by Trellis to help borrowers

The strong philanthropic heritage of giving through grants to colleges, universities and research groups remains focused on improving student outcomes, especially with the mission to serve underserved students, families, and institutions. Immersed in the field of education, Trellis provides coaching in every aspect of education.

Student success program development and research

There are a lot of students struggling with their student loans, and in general, their personal financing issues with education.

If you are going to spend most of your time toiling with ways to overcome student debt or understanding the terms of the procedure, when are you going to concentrate on the reason for which the loan was taken for in the first place? It is now a known fact that to land a decent middle-level job also, you must have a recognizable decent degree from a reputed enough college.

It is mainly for this purpose, to settle your life in the long run, that Trellis has come up with educational programs.

Student financial education

The Trellis Student Financial Education Program is offered at zero cost to Texas colleges, as well as certain community-based organizations with missions that focus on college access and success.

Educational talks are given by Trellis in community-based programs, that focus on helping students with accessing higher education resources.

The person in charge of integrating such educational events between Trellis and community-based organization would basically have to get in touch with Trellis via phone or email to get the ball rolling.

Structure of the program

These interactive programs have a certain structure that is followed. Ready-to-use training materials for college access is provided to students, tried and tested by some veterans of the program. In order to increase retention, the program’s modules are presented in small and understandable chunks of memorable content. A number of combinations can be made with the modules by mixing and matching it.

Each module usually consists of the following:

A 15- to 20-minute presentation and presenter’s guide
A student handout for each participant that includes a section for notes, FAQs, a glossary, and a list of suggested resources for further study
Suggestions for activities designed to reinforce learning objectives introduced in the presentation
Online program evaluation to be completed by each participant

The modules are broadly classified into two categories; the financial literacy module and the student loan counseling module.

1) The financial literacy module briefs the borrower on certain areas such as:

- Borrowing smart by becoming familiar with various types of credit, interest rates, credit reports and scores, which types of credit to avoid, and how to resolve serious debt problems before it is too late.

-Monitoring loan servicers and protecting by creating awareness which is pivotal for borrower safety. This module covers the warning signs of fraud, common scams, identity theft, and how to respond in such situations. Prevention covers recordkeeping, keeping information safe, and obtaining and interpreting credit reports.

-Planning carefully and spending wisely which is very essential for money management habits in youth especially and can have a lifetime of value. This module covers the basics for every student, including understanding needs and wants, creating a budget and cash flow statements, and methods of tracking your money.

-Inculcating the habit of saving for an emergency, a home, and building for a future. Retirement starts here and not after mid-life crisis. This module covers different types of bank accounts and various investment vehicles, how they can be used, and why they are important.

-Entering the next phase of adult life, i.e. getting prepared for the working world with resources and support. This module covers how to land a job — interviewing and salary negotiation tips, getting paid — understanding payroll taxes and deductions, and the differences between hourly (non-exempt), salaried (exempt) positions and every piece of knowledge that one must be equipped with at that stage.

2) The student loan counseling modules covers a brief overview of the entire journey from start to exit of student loans.

-This entrance counseling session is designed for first-time student borrowers and emphasizes on the importance of a good start. The session also covers the fundamentals and the master promissory note, types of federal loans, interest capitalization, loan repayment, and other key elements mandatory decisions to finance higher education.

-On the other hand, the exit counseling session is designed for student borrowers who have taken advantage of the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) or the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and who are soon to enter repayment mode. The module specifically discusses repayment plan options, loan forgiveness and consolidation policies, interest capitalization, and other key elements that borrowers should understand as they leave college and enter repayment.

-This training module reiterates the importance of being smart in tracking both federal and private student loans that have been borrowed so that successful loan repayment is achieved. Students also learn about the implications that loan mismanagement can have on their credit histories.

-Borrowers of parent PLUS loans are provided with an overview of the loan programs, its eligibility needs, terms and conditions, repayment plan options, and some frequently asked questions. This presentation is not intended to replace the PLUS Credit Counseling session provided through the Federal Student Aid website, which may be required of some applicants with an adverse credit history.

-Finally, this training module provides an in-depth review of available repayment plans for federal loans. Students also learn about how certain economic decisions make a world of a difference and impact the repayment of their loans.

Worried about your college tuition? Learn more about student loans

Student outreach

Professional coaches provide financial instructions and explanations in order to increase persistence and retention in college students. They employ a student-centered approach encouraging critical thinking and planning so that students can utilize these vital skills lifelong.

These one-on-one coaching caters to students needs revolving around 3 main areas:

Money Management techniques including spending/budgeting, saving strategies, short-term financial needs, and healthy financial habits in the long run.
Financial Aid covering topics that arise before and after borrowing of loans such as all the options available, the FAFSA form completion, options of repayment (the various plans), an amount that will suffice to cover the financial need, etc.
Academic and Career Support which means detailed guidance on all matters relating to managing school and/or work-life balance, time management techniques, career options, what academic path to major in, future prospects or financial opportunities.

Another exciting venture by Trellis is that it can help you design digital communication and a real-time student engagement campaign to reach future and current students at critical times during the year. A method of digital communications, like texting, can direct students to important information and resources to assist them throughout their education journey right from high school until the moment they graduate, and if needed, even beyond that.

And if you have any further questions or queries to be answered, the official website has provided its mail ID - studentfinancialed@trelliscompany.org

Research

Being veterans in the field of education, having more than 3 decades of experience dealing with key issues that are prevalent such as student debt, student loan counseling, the financial barriers involved, and so on; Trellis Research continues to explore and provides universities, colleges, and policymakers insight into student success. They delve into personal finance and all the financial aid options in the context of higher education affordability.

Trellis has also conducted a number of surveys such as SFWS (Student Financial Wellness Survey) and has published many studies on topics like State of Student Aid (SOSA), Borrower Repayment Patterns(A Collaboration with Pew Charitable Trusts), Loan Counseling – Collaboration with Federal Reserve Board and NASFAA.

Institutional coaching/consulting

Trellis Company is accomplished and capable when it comes to the mutuality of student finances and academics. Hence, Trellis’ Institutional Consultants lay the groundwork by supporting colleges and universities in many ways. Being the cornerstone in the field, they also provide programs as we have seen above, to back institutions develop outcomes-oriented success programs especially for the underserved population.

(Key components include student engagement and retention, financial literacy, default aversion, and re-enrollment programs, with the goal of helping students align and manage their finances, graduate, and understand their student loan obligations.)

The Trellis institutional team also works with secondary schools, nonprofits, government agencies, and directly with students on initiatives that help students succeed in higher education.

On-Demand Webinars

If you learn better in a private setting and at your own pace, Trellis has on-demand webinars you can watch whenever. can even set it up so you chat with a private coach.

At-risk student account and loan management

A number of services are provided by Trellis to assist students in avoiding default and becoming delinquent, or any other situation similar to that. They help you keep your payments on track and structurize your financial situation. The services, namely HigherEDGE services look over the student's past-due accounts for colleges and accounts of lenders, and also brief over counseling and recovery.

Pre-Collections/Default Prevention Services

This particular service by Trellis called HigherEDGE (a pre-collection and default prevention service) is intentionally designed to pilot the borrows back to being in a good stable financial position before they reach a stage where collections become mandatory.

Even though the procedure can be called strenuous and complex, in the long run, the overall benefit is worth every moment of going through it.

The end result comprises of financial benefits, a good long term relationship and definitely student success on the whole.

This works through well-developed pre-collections and default prevention programs. It is shown that students who remain in school and graduate are less likely to default on their student loans.

Recovery Services

Trellis believes strongly in preserving relationships and eventually keeping the revenue flow steady.

Maintaining positive relationships with student borrowers is critical. It’s also becoming far more challenging, especially within the growing complexities of today’s higher education financing. Whether you’re a college or university in need of recovering past due student account balances or a private student loan lender, HigherEDGE services from Trellis helps you maintain the delicate balance of addressing the realities of the present situation, while keeping in place the building blocks of a future relationship.

Contact information

Apart from having a comprehensive and easy to use web portal, if you wish to contact Trellis company for general information, you can do so on the following numbers:

Phone: (800) 252-9743 or (512) 219-5700

If you have further clarifications to make regarding collections or managing repayment, you may contact the efficient and resourceful collections team via phone or email:

Phone: (800) 222-6297

Fax: (512) 336 – 6551

Email: collections@trelliscompany.org

Working hours: Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time, Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time, and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Central Time

If any issue yet remains unresolved after contacting the collections team, feel free to contact the Office of the Ombudsman.

The default prevention phone number: (800) 338-4752

Financial aid and loan forgiveness phone: (800) 845-6267

Fax: (512) 336-6566

Email: trellishelps@trelliscompany.org

For technical questions and support, you can send an email to :

product.support@trelliscompany.org

The Trellis company office address:

301 Sundance Pkwy. Round Rock, TX 78681 (512) 219-5700 , (800) 252-9743

Conclusion

There are no second doubts about a company that has the moral aim of educating the masses on money and student loans while helping them access the higher education they need to move forward in life. They strive to commit to their customers and promise to always listen to their needs, value their input and support their success, which is itself a strong brand promise. A student loan servicer plays an important role in the repayment journey it is crucial for a borrower to have an in-depth idea of what to expect from his/her student loan servicer.

If you live in Texas and you would like a “one-stop, pay-it-all” solution for your student loans, Trellis might be the tool that will help you.Simply stated, HigherEDGE services from Trellis are able to efficiently deliver top-tier student account recovery services for colleges, universities and private lenders of all sizes.