Washington — With Congress poised to take up legislation as early as next week that could pave the way for the elimination of the guaranteed-student-loan program, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators is urging lawmakers to consider other options.

In a letter to its members sent today, the association suggests a new federal loan model that would keep all the current participants in the student-loan system but assign them different roles.

Under the group’s plan, student loans would be financed through government-backed bonds purchased by private investors and ordinary Americans. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds would be disbursed to borrowers through their colleges and applied directly to students’ accounts.

While banks would no longer market loans to students, they could bid on Education Department contracts to originate, disburse, and service the loans. Guarantors and other nonprofit agencies could bid on contracts to provide default-management services, including entrance and exit counseling, but they would no longer guarantee loans.

Friends, family members, and private companies that paid off a portion or all of a borrower’s debt would receive a tax credit. State-based nonprofit lenders could also offer loan-forgiveness programs for students who entered professions in demand.

On Tuesday the association sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to go slowly and to engage in a “deliberative” discussion of the future of student lending, rather than to ram through President Obama’s plan to end guaranteed lending through a process known as “budget reconciliation.”

Congress is expected to vote next week on a budget resolution that would provide a blueprint for federal spending in the coming fiscal year. If that resolution contains instructions to Congress’s education committees to consider the president’s proposal through budget reconciliation, it could be much harder for opponents to defeat the plan. That’s because reconciliation bills are filibuster-proof in the Senate and require only a simple majority to pass. —Kelly Field