December 5, 2003

Loan Guarantors May Ask Students to Pay More

By STEPHEN BURD

Higher-education lobbyists vow to fight efforts to require a 1-percent fee

Table: How Student-Loan Guarantees WorkBy STEPHEN BURD

The agencies that guarantee federal student loans are in a bind and looking to borrowers to bail them out.

Lobbyists for the country's 36 guarantors are considering whether to ask Congress to require students to pay the agencies a fee to get their loans. Under federal law, guarantors are already allowed to charge students the fee, which is equal