Giving an Inch?

In a rare moment these days, Bush administration officials and Congress are being applauded for their quick and measured response to problems (or, more accurately, the threat of problems) with student loan availability. Spurring lawmakers along was a looming Sallie Mae conference call with college officials, in which some speculated that Sallie Mae--the nation's largest student loan company--might announce it was pulling out of the federal student loan program, or severely limiting its participation.

But in the Sallie Mae call, held yesterday, the company announced that they would continue to make student loans and praised the government's recent action as "quite helpful." This, no doubt, came as a relief for many lawmakers, but the lingering question is whether this is the inch that will eventually become a mile.

As Stephen Burd at the New America Foundation points out today, one of Sallie Mae's best friends on Capitol Hill is already pushing for more. And it's difficult to disentangle genuine concern about student well-being from empty rhetoric coming from the many lawmakers and lobbyists who stand to benefit from a more profitable student loan industry.

On a positive note, though, it looks like Secretary Spellings, the Treasury Department and Congress have managed to separate rhetoric from reality this time. Let's hope they continue to focus on helping students and not just bailing out lenders.