January 25, 2008

As Political Power Shifts, Student-Loan Companies See Their Profit-Making Abilities Slipping Away

By PAUL BASKEN

The nation's student-loan companies have built an industry in recent years with the help of billions of dollars in federal subsidies, creative interpretations of regulations, and personal gifts to college officials. Last week the same bureaucracy that permitted those tools began the slow process of taking them away.

Representatives of colleges and student-advocacy groups dominated a two-day meeting of an Education Department advisory panel charged with drafting regulations for the

Digital or Print Subscription

Web Pass

Already have an account? Log In Now.