Despite action by Congress and the Bush administration to shore up the student-loan industry, some state-authorized organizations say they may not return to the loan business this year, and others are cutting some of the borrower benefits and services they provide. Nine state loan agencies stopped issuing either new federally backed or new private loans this year, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. In response to the recently crafted federal rescue plan, agencies in Kentucky, Missouri, and New Hampshire have announced that they will resume lending this year. The federal action assures both private and nonprofit lenders, such as the state authorities, that they can sell new loans to the Department of Education or receive a low-interest line of credit to issue those loans. Other state lenders that suspended some programs say they are still uncertain whether they will take advantage of the federal offer. Lenders have come under scrutiny after the nationwide investigation into conflicts of interest in the student-loan industry; other recent investigations have raised questions about whether state lenders are using their money in the public interest. Such questions have made consumer watchdog groups and some politicians skeptical about whether state-based lenders, which have increased their holdings by 20 percent over the past decade, are trying to bolster their bottom lines at the expense of students and taxpayers. (Contains 1 table.)