This article discusses exclusive deals between colleges and student-loan providers and the U.S. Education Department's initial move to solve the conflict. The Higher Education Act, which governs most federal student-aid programs, prohibits colleges from requiring their students to borrow from a specific bank or student-loan company. The law does…

Pressure is growing for Congress to overhaul the student loan consolidation program which has allowed borrowers to lock in low interest rates over the loan life. Lenders and student groups are in opposition over the program; colleges are tending to take a neutral stance. (SLD)

Explores how for-profit colleges want to be defined as higher education institutions, for both the prestige and the money. The institutions are pushing Congress to change a key definition that prevents them from receiving certain kinds of federal aid. (EV)

Describes how, as he seeks re-election, President Bush is considering issuing a scathing critique of higher education early next year, demanding greater accountability from colleges. He may use the renewal of the Higher Education Act to attack colleges for high costs and dropout rates. (EV)

Discusses the "student work penalty" that occurs when students earn too much money to remain eligible for federal financial aid and describes some efforts to overturn this denial of eligibility. Community college students, who are likely to work, are particularly vulnerable to this denial of aid. (SLD)

If some lawmakers and community college leaders have their way, the amount of federal aid received by students at elite private colleges may be reduced. Private colleges say they will fight to protect federal aid that other institutions want for needy students. (SLD)

Describes how college lobbying groups are squabbling over how much students should be able to borrow in federal student loans. (EV)

Discusses how President Bush's 2004 budget proposal would erase the shortfall in Pell Grants, but many programs would receive no increases, and two would be eliminated. (EV)

Describes how supporters for TRIO and Gear Up, the two main federal programs that encourage low-income students to prepare for college, are girding for a battle over a proposed budget merger. (EV)

Describes how, as new competitors lobby for legislation for further open the student loan market to them, Sallie Mae and other lenders have responded by attacking the loan consolidation program. (EV)

Describes how a program at Dorchester High School in Boston, Massachusetts--the College Opportunity and Career Help (Coach) program--aims to find the best way to get more low-income students to apply for higher education. (EV)

Explores the divide among those who study higher education policy over whether preparation or money is the primary obstacle to college attendance for underprivileged students; federal policies could hinge on which side of the debate is favored. (EV)

Discusses how a 1998 law has denied federal financial aid to so many students convicted of past drug offenses that even its author wants to change it. (EV)

Discusses a suggestion by the Bush administration that colleges be held accountable for their effectiveness in retaining students, which has some college leaders worried. (EV)

Explores how a dispute between the U.S. Department of Education and Saint Louis University over alleged misuse of professional judgment in the awarding of over 2,000 Pell grants could change how campus officials handle students' financial aid requests. (EV)