One of the things that has come as a result of the whole health care debate is that the federal government is now taking over all student loans. I’m listening to some discussion on talk radio right now, and there was a good story on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning, “Can Education Dept. Handle Student Loans Solo?”
Before I went back to earn my PhD, I worked for about three years for a student loan guarantor/service agency in Virginia. This was a long time ago– almost 20 years ago– but as far as I could tell, student loans were way WAY too good of a deal to the private sector, because the loans were “guaranteed” by the federal government. So since the Feds are on the hook for the loans anyway, the government might as well collect a little interest and make things a little more efficient. But like I said, that was a long time ago. Maybe those of you who are more current with financial aid can chime in on this.
