HBCUs Get On Board With Direct Lending: As Congress moves closer to wrapping up deliberation on the Obama administration's proposal to convert the U.S. higher education student loan system of public and private lending into one fully run by the federal government, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) aren't expected to be among the institutions opposing the reform, HBCU leaders say.
The move last month by the U.S. Education Department to advise higher education officials at 3,000 institutions to prepare their schools for full participation in the department's direct lending program by the 2010-11 academic year ruffled Republican lawmakers and private student loan lending advocates.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., characterized the department's Oct. 26 letter recommending schools become 'Direct Loan-ready' by the 2010-11 academic year as 'premature.' Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., wrote to Education Secretary Arne Duncan that he was 'disappointed in (Duncan's) actions to encourage this conversion when legislation has not yet become law.'
