... to administer bank-based student loans have evolved into inefficient middlemen that waste taxpayer money, the New America Foundation said today. ...
WASHINGTON, DC--Today the New America Foundation's Education
Policy Program released "Rethinking the Middleman: Federal Student Loan Guaranty Agencies," by Benjamin Miller. The policy paper provides an
overview of the history and current responsibilities of guaranty
Analysts at the New America Foundation, which takes a generally skeptical view of the student loan industry and has editorialized in favor of the Obama plan, questioned some of the principles underlying the lenders' alternative proposal.
Public policy think tank New America Foundation pointed out in an online article Kanjorski's personal interest in keeping this lending powerhouse healthy; earlier this month, it shifted several hundred jobs into his eastern Pennsylvania district. ...
“We haven’t seen anywhere near the final act in terms of lobbying,” said Stephen Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation. “This is just the overture.” Original article (subscription required)
Department of Education officials say the direct lending program is better at preventing default and provides a higher level of customer service to students. At a New America Foundation discussion Tuesday, Bob Shireman, an advisor to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said the direct lending program would be a better deal for taxpayers. Original article (subsription required)
Recent years have shown beyond a doubt that the direct lending program works better. Every independent analysis--by the Congressional Budget Office, by the Office of Management and Budget under each of the last three presidents, and by the New America Foundation--has found that direct lending is cheaper. The guaranteed-loan program managed to cling to life through its congressional patrons and through simple graft.
On Tuesday, March 31, the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program hosted "The Future of Federal Student Loans." This event featured representatives from the Obama administration, the student loan community, and New America's Education Policy Program to discuss the pros and cons of the President's proposal to stop guaranteeing federal student loans and to instead make the loans directly.
"There will be an intense amount of lobbying. It's just going to be a huge
fight," said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow for education policy at the
nonprofit New America Foundation. Original article
Watchdog Stephen Burd says money spent on the jet comes off the backs of students, who have Educap loans costing up to three times more than government loans...
