Skeptics question whether infusion of billions of dollars for education in the economic-stimulus bill before Congress would actually give a healthy jolt to the economy. The bill would help thousands of students pay for college and could give colleges money to fix crumbling buildings. Some members of Congress are calling for the removal of…

Senator Charles E. Grassley may be backing away from his threat to offer legislation that would require the wealthiest institutions to spend up to 5% of their endowment assets each year. At a panel discussion on Capitol Hill last week, the Iowa senator, who is the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, strongly hinted that he would…

In a speech before a group of career-college executives and lobbyists, freshman Representative Jason Altmire hinted that he would look out for the sector's interests in a coming conference between the House of Representatives and the Senate on legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Referring to a provision in the bill that would…

Several months into a credit crunch that has led at least 20 lenders to leave the guaranteed loan program or suspend their lending operations, lawmakers have begun to respond with a sense of urgency, even as they seek to reassure students and parents that a crisis is unlikely and that federal student loans will still be available this fall. In the…