Colleges and universities are finding that improvements in the guaranteed student loan process are making it more attractive than direct lending. In its third year, the direct lending program's total loan volume remains at 33%, well below the 50% goal set in originating legislation. Even some of its strongest supporters fear the program will have…

The federal Department of Education will help college students save money on loan interest if they consolidate loans in the direct lending program while in college. Some college lobbyists feel the administration has not done enough to cut fees and help students and colleges and, as a result, may lose direct-loan participants to bank-loan programs.…

Discusses issues addressed by a Congessionally mandated panel to identify and evaluate options for infusing market forces into the student loan program. Notes possible advantages. Conflicting views of the panel's student representatives, college administrators, and lenders are reported concerning reductions of lenders' profits, removal of…

The Clinton Administration's proposed overhaul of the guaranteed student loan program would pay banks the amount of unpaid federal student loans, making the government the sole insurer of the loans. Guarantee agencies feel this action would strip them of their primary tasks of reimbursing lenders for unpaid loans. The initiative is intended to…