In response to scandals rocking the student loan industry, the House has quickly passed reform legislation to require more disclosure from lenders as well as university codes of conduct, and Senate action is expected. But the larger issues of rising college costs and students' increasing dependence on private loans have, for the moment at least, taken a back seat.

Yet that doesn't mean they've gone away. College costs have risen far faster than inflation and also outpaced the growth of grant aid and federal loans. Pell grants, for example, which provide money to low-income students, covered nearly 60 percent of the cost of attending a public four-year school in 1986, but by 2005, their value had dropped to 33 percent of the cost, according to the College Board. As a result, more students must turn to costly private loans to finance their education or not go at all...

Even though the scandals are dominating most of the current discussions on Capitol Hill, some education experts laud the fact that student loans are getting any attention at all. Stephen Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, says, "This is the first time everyone is dealing with the reality of the fact that private loans have become essential financing for undergraduates."

For the complete article, please visit the US News & World Report website.