Free Republic

The data kitty, in what was believed to be the largest-ever case of student-loan data theft, may have been recovered. More details have emerged how the data of 3.3 million borrowers was compromised when their personal data was stolen the weekend of March 20th from the St. Paul headquarters of Educational Credit Management Corp., a non-profit guarantor of federally-backed student loans. Information released by the Minnesota Department of Safety about the investigation, further highlight that, indeed, the incident was deemed “simple, old-fashioned theft” rather than the work of intricate hacking. Two safes containing approximately 650 CDs and floppy disks containing...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As lenders continue to curtail access to mortgages, credit cards and other types of loans, one area of the credit market is rapidly expanding: student loans. Unprecedented growth in student loans over the past two years is raising questions about whether a generation will be saddled with debt before it has even entered the workforce, according to data that the Equifax Inc credit bureau provided exclusively to Reuters. The number of U.S. student loan accounts has risen 29 percent to 69 million over two years, according to Equifax, while balances have jumped by $105 billion to...

(CNSNews.com) – A bill currently before the Senate would empower the Obama administration to nationalize the student lending industry, eliminating the federally subsidized private loans millions of university students rely on to finance their educations. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act – currently being considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee – would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)program.

President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claim that a new government health insurance option would strengthen competition and lower health care costs. If they really believe that theory, it doesn't explain why they are pushing a complete government takeover of the college-loan industry 16 years after federal tuition loans were created to compete with loans by private lenders. The student-loan power grab offers a cautionary tale that is relevant to the health care debate. This wasteful effort demonstrates how publicly financed alternatives to the private sector can be a slippery slope. It's common practice for government to stick its...