Washington — Turns out that House Democrats may not be as bent on abolishing the guaranteed-student-loan program as it seemed.

Last week the House Committee on the Budget introduced a spending plan that instructed the education committee to wring $1-billion in savings from programs under its jurisdiction. Lawmakers were expected to seek those savings through the elimination of the bank-based guaranteed-loan program.

Now the Budget Committee has released an accompanying report that urges the Committee on Education and Labor to consider other ways of restructuring the student-loan program.

The little-noticed report language urges lawmakers to “review options for the student-loan program that will maintain a role” for lenders, and to “look for ways to achieve savings that capitalize on current infrastructure and minimize the disruption to students and employees” of banks and other lenders.

The Budget Committee approved the spending blueprint, known as a “budget resolution,” on a party-line vote last week. The full House will debate the measure this week. A similar resolution is advancing through the Senate, though that measure lacks instructions for the education committee. Once both chambers pass their resolutions, they will meet in a conference to craft a compromise.

President Obama has called for ending the bank-based program and using the savings to make the Pell Grant an entitlement indexed to the rate of inflation. —Kelly Field