Forces threatening the fundamental principles and practices of student financial aid are examined, and some advice to the profession is offered. A large dedicated profession has emerged that is skilled at bringing together students, colleges, and resources. (MLW)

Borrowing has become the indispensable means for financing higher education, primarily through the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program. The entire structure of expectations that sustains higher education has been transformed by debt, and incentives for borrowers and lenders have created student debt expansion. (MLW)

The National Institutes of Health has developed innovative programs to help students, mostly medical school graduates, to repay or to forgive student loans, including physician participation in AIDS research, general research, and contraception and fertility, and plans for graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program also provides…

Actions that a college might pursue if they have difficulty meeting their financial obligations on dormitory construction loans are discussed by the president of Kansas Wesleyan University. It is noted that when the administration of the loan program was shifted to the new Department of Education (the Department), the agency pushed to collect all…

Issues concerning mortgage-backed student loans are examined, with attention to the new tax law, policy and practical concerns that a college should address before starting this type of loan program, public policy issues, and two types of plans. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 phases out the deductibility of consumer interest charges and as a result…

Section 439A of the Education Amendments of 1976 restricts the dischargeability of federal student loans to cases of "undue hardship." The origin, applications, and legal procedures involved in Section 439A and in Section 523(a) of the new Bankruptcy Code are examined and suggestions are made for determining the meaning of "undue…

Student borrowing for higher education has increased dramatically, and some students begin their adult lives with considerable debt. Financial burden measures should be incorporated into student loan repayment requirements and used to adjust either monthly or annual repayments or the period of repayment. Reducing debt burden would help make…

The merits of providing more loan opportunities to parents and students and the implications of this growing reliance on borrowing are considered. The objective is to clarify the alternative federal aid approaches that will be discussed as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Federally-sponsored loan programs include Guaranteed…

A National Education Loan Bank (NELB) is proposed as an alternative to existing federal loan programs for education, such as the National Direct Student Loan program and the Guaranteed Student Loan program. The history and structures of these two programs are detailed: financing, costs, insurance arrangements, agencies, volume, and interest rates.…

Recent efforts of the World Bank to improve global economic problems are described, issues which will influence the role of the World Bank in the decade to come are discussed, and the Bank's future role is examined. Recent World Bank efforts to help developing nations include a lending program, project investments, analytical and advisory work,…

A discussion of the high level of student borrowing to pay for higher education looks at the situation today, examines college cost and aid trends, explores implications for the future if students continue to increase their borrowing, and offers a proposal to create a new generation of loan forgiveness programs through a public/private…

In order to encourage efforts to improve access to postsecondary education, this booklet offers data on students, enrollments, and financial aid. A highlights section opens the booklet. A section on the college student describes six actual students and discusses the diversity of the current student body in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, age,…

Several problems have been identified in the administration of student financial aid programs in California, including high default rates in the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) Program, a significant decrease in the number of eligible students receiving financial aid, workload increases in program administration, and unmet needs for financial aid…

A series of recommendations is presented for reducing default rates in the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program. First, a summary is provided of trends toward the increasing dependence of students on loans to finance their college education and the large and growing default rate among borrowers. Next, four issues are discussed: Should lenders…

The history of the interrelation among state approval, accreditation, and institutional eligibility is considered. It is suggested that faculty and college administrators can be either an internal or external group in relationship to the planning process. The federal government, or the state government, passes legislation that may have both…