Federal agencies have had to begin making automatic budget reductions according to the new version of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit-reduction law, resulting in increased student loan fees and decreased banker subsidies. (MSE)

The annual meeting of the College Board focused on some of the most controversial issues facing higher education including: productivity, accountability, prepaid tuition plans, Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program, and one alternative to the G.S.L.--students could borrow from the government and then pay a higher Social Security tax. (MLW)

Student financial aid analysts are suggesting the federal government establish a government-run loan bank or trust fund to eliminate the need for lender involvement in the Guaranteed Student Loan Program, but congressional aides think that dismantling the existing program is unlikely. (MSE)

Suggests alternative sources of financial aid for college students including loan programs, tax-exempt bonds, trust funds, and corporate or union tuition aid. Lack of information concerning available resources remains a major concern both for parents and colleges competing for students. (JAC)

Researchers, economists, and campus administrators who have followed federal student aid programs worry that businesses have turned the Guaranteed Student Loan Program into a lucrative industry that doesn't always have the students' interest in mind, and a congressional study group is also concerned about aspects of the program. (MSE)

This report provides results of a study that measured lender profitability in the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program and compares these results with the profitability of other types of lending. Data analysis reveals credit card lending to be the highest average level of profitability over the 5-year period considered. Other lending types, in…

A report on for-profit trade schools said that many schools offer such poor-quality training that large numbers of their students drop out and default on their student loans when they cannot find jobs. Secretary Bennett calls on Congress to crack down on proprietary schools. (MLW)

The rapid and substantial rise in college student indebtedness has raised concern about young people's ability to repay loans and the impact on the national economy, the borrowers' economic well-being, equality of access to higher education, and even the educational process itself. (MSE)

The American Council on Education's president has proposed a broad plan to overhaul federal student aid, replacing current programs with a more coherent plan. It would expand grant-money for low-income students and maintain the present guaranteed-loan program while creating two new loan plans to reduce government costs. (MSE)

A series of steps by the Education Department and Congress to crack down on loan defaulters are discussed. Several factors have put defaults in the spotlight, including a study listing default rates at all postsecondary institutions and hard-hitting newspaper editorials. (MLW)

This paper offers information and analysis of the direct lending portion of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The direct lending proposal is described in an opening letter to the reader as a provision that would make the Pell Grant Program an entitlement and raise the maximum award to $4,500 with provisions that would…

This report provides statistical data illustrating trends in student aid from 1983 to 1993 including revised figures for the 1980s. In addition, it reports changes in the costs of attending college and in family incomes. The data represents virtually all federal aid and the vast majority of state and institutional assistance available to students…

Loan deferment and forgiveness programs, first developed at the Harvard Law School, are appearing at a variety of institutions. These schools are helping alumni who choose public interest careers to pay off educational loans. Public interest careers include working for schools, hospitals, the government, arts organizations, etc. (MLW)

This report addresses the dollar savings described in the Government Accounting Office's (GAO) report supporting direct lending as opposed to the present guaranteed student loan program. The critique explains the changes in the GAO model assumptions and projections that are believed necessary to move from the original $4.8 billion savings to a…

This report describes the status of State and federal financial assistance available to students enrolled in postsecondary institutions located in New York State during the two academic years, 1987-88 and 1988-89. The introduction contains a brief overview of State and federal student assistance programs and highlights recent developments in those…