Departments work to assure student loans

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The Bush administration is working to ensure the student loan market is viable during the U.S. financial crisis, the Treasury and Education departments said.

"We recognize that education is the foundation of a strong American workforce and we must not let challenges in our capital markets hinder our students' opportunities," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Friday in a joint statement.

President George Bush earlier this week signed a bill extending the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. It renews the Education Department's temporary powers to use federal funds to ensure students and families can access student loans.

Loan purchase and participation interest programs implemented during the last few months also help assure federal student loans are available to students enrolling in post-secondary institutions for the 2008-2009 school year, officials said.

"Using our newly extended authorities, the administration is moving aggressively to support the continued availability of funding for federal student loans in the next school year," Paulson and Spellings said.

The goal of the initiatives, they said, is "restoring the government-guaranteed student loan market to normal operations."