The objectives of student loan programs and the consequences of specific programmatic determinations are considered. In addition to the primary function of providing access to capital markets for the financing of human capital investment, the student loan system in the United States has been utilized as: (1) a mechanism to subsidize schooling…

Four aspects of the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) Program are compared with credit policies on other loans made by consumer installment lenders. The four aspects are: (1) the planning, screening, monitoring, collecting, and write-off policies on GSLs versus uninsured loans; (2) the importance of the Student Loan Marketing Association in providing…

Federal student financial aid programs were compared with programs proposed by the Reagan Administration in the Department of Education's fiscal year 1988 budget. Of concern were: total aid received by a student, the portions provided as grants and loans, and the portion of the student's postgraduation income that would be required to repay the…

A comparison was made of the practices of so-called multistate guaranty agencies with those of single state guaranty agencies, both operating under the provisions of the Stafford Student Loan Program (formerly the Guaranteed Student Loan Program). It expands on earlier results and provides data on trends in the growth of guaranteed loans and…

The report presents information collected by the U.S. General Accounting Office on the Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS) program, which provides market rate loans to postsecondary students in addition to, or in lieu of, other financial aid such as Stafford Loans and Pell grants. Some of the data are as follows: over $3.2 billion in SLS loans…

Although 1985 was a relatively high-income year for agriculture, the farm sector is still under a great deal of financial stress. High direct government payments and increased Commodity Credit Corportion loans improved the cash income of U.S. farmers in 1985. However, the continuing decline in real estate values reduced farmers' asset and equity…

The loan collection efforts of the Department of Education are discussed in hearings held as part of fact finding prior to reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Attention is directed to the collection record of the Department, the rationale for shifting collections from federal to private collectors, and the reasons why two of the remaining…

Arguing that the benefits from borrowing abroad exceed the costs recently imposed on countries through debt-servicing difficulties, this paper defines debt as an engine of growth, forcing the borrower to produce goods efficiently, export them, and function competitively in the international market. Debt-servicing difficulties of developing nations…

An analysis of the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) default reduction plan under the Stafford Student Loan Program (formerly called the Guaranteed Student Loan program) is presented that concentrates on the new regulations and their implications for schools, students, and program administrators. The default plan's success largely depends upon…

Hearings were conducted to discuss legislation aimed at reducing student loan defaults in the federal Guaranteed Student Loan program. The Student Default Initiative Act of 1988 is designed to address the growing cost of student loan defaults and the increasing imbalance between grant and loan assistance. It develops a procedure to get the…

This General Accounting Office (GAO) testimony before the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, concerns the findings of the task force that addressed the increasing costs of student loan defaults. The task force report is considered, generally, to provide additional incentives and…

Educational loan limits for graduate and professional students were estimated to provide manageable repayments that were a proportion of the borrowers' future consumption budget data. Based on each professional group's income profile, loan repayments were computed for each year of repayment and summed across alternative repayment periods to arrive…

Silber's proposed Tuition Advance Fund for undergraduate student financial aid is criticized. It is suggested that what the TAF would do is substitute the student's borrowing from the government for what the parents now contribute to higher educaiton. (LBH)

Pennsylvania's sophisticated system for student loan fraud and abuse detection is described, including the factors felt to contribute to its success and suggestions for improving other state agency fraud units. (MSE)

This report examines issues relevant to establishing an Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) ombudsman office within the Department of Education. The OSFA ombudsman office came out of the need to improve student lending program services and to mitigate the impact of loan default on students. It was determined that students involved in…