The House of Representatives is expected to approve a bill today that would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, expand the Direct Loan program, and put the resulting savings into student grant aid. But before a final vote is taken, the loan industry's champions in the House will make one last ditch effort to gut the student loan reform bill. They are offering an alternative proposal that would keep the FFEL program running on arbitrary subsidies easily manipulated by the student loan industry, and ironically, expand the role of the federal government in the FFEL program.

Reps. John Kline, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) plan to offer a substitute amendment to the bill that would keep the FFEL program operating just as it is today, but extend to 2014 the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA) programs that Congress approved in 2008 to keep student loan providers afloat during the credit crunch. In the meantime, the amendment would create a commission, with heavy representation from the loan industry, to design and recommend to Congress a new "private sector model for [government-backed] student lending."

It's undeniably been a busy year for higher education with financial crises, continued student loan controversies, and the Higher Education Act finally renewed after more than five years of deliberations. With Santa coming to town at the end of next week and Higher Ed Watch taking off for the holidays, it's time for us to take a look at who was naughty and who was nice in calendar year 2008.

NAUGHTY

• The State of New York. In January, the Empire State unveiled an ambitious plan to boost its public colleges and universities by creating an endowment and hiring more faculty members -- that was nice. But now facing revenue shortfalls and a sagging economy, the state is considering taking the budget axe to its public college and university systems. With the governor proposing over $350 million in cuts in spending on these colleges, students are expected to face significant tuition increases, including one early next year. Sadly, New York isn't alone in this inglorious honor -- California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and others are all looking to slash spending on higher education.