At Higher Ed Watch, we have made clear our opposition to a provision in the pending student loan reform legislation that would provide a set aside for all existing non-profit student loan agencies to service up to 100,000 borrowers in their home states. But we have also said that if Democratic Congressional leaders insist on keeping the provision in the bill -- because they believe that they can't pass a bill without it -- they should at least bar from participation non-profit lenders that have broken the law or acted in ways that are harmful to students.

Case in point: the Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation (ISL), the state-affiliated non-profit student loan provider. As both federal and state investigations have shown, ISL's aggressive pursuit of market share and financial rewards over the last decade has been damaging to students and taxpayers alike. According to these investigations, the loan agency has done the following:

This Guest Post was written by Phillip Lovell from First Focus and  Barbara Duffield from the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.

Barely a day goes by without a front page story covering some aspect of the recession. Much of what we read hits on the economic nature of the crisis; much less attention has been paid to the impact of the economic downturn on children.

Policymakers are finally noticing the recession's impact on children. Last summer, Congress passed major legislation-The Housing and Economic Recovery Act-that dedicated two (out of 261) pages to addressing the needs of children who have become homeless due to the foreclosure crisis.  More recently, the economic stimulus package, otherwise known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, includes millions in funding for school districts to help keep children and youth in school even if they lose their homes. These funds are provided through The McKinney-Vento Act's Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program.

Pell Grants for the 2009-10 school year have become a budget nightmare. The program has always had its budgeting quirks, but this year is shaping up to be the most complicated and confusing of all. New funding streams, unfinished 2009 appropriations bills, stopgap funding measures, shortfalls, and now a stimulus bill have created one ugly Pell Grant budget. We'll try to sort out the factors that play into the 2009-10 grant.

The Pell Grant program is the cornerstone of federal grant aid for low-income college students. This academic year, low-income students will receive Pell Grants worth between $890 and $4,731 each to pay for tuition and other attendance related costs. When determining Pell Grant appropriations, Congress sets a maximum grant level for the year and provides what it estimates to be the necessary funding. Each student's grant amount is determined by a formula based on his or her financial need.

The Shortfall and Temporary Fix