The schools ripped off the program, but they had defenders in Congress, and a timorous higher education lobby was loath to join in pointing the finger, lest it be accused of elitism. Congress did gradually tighten the rules, however. Among much else, schools with chronically high default rates were made ineligible for the program. The Clinton administration, meanwhile, won enactment of a direct lending program in which the government makes the loans itself instead of guaranteeing them. As lender, it is able to work out more flexible repayment schemes.
Officials say that, too, has been a factor in the default decline.
No federal programs do more to bring about equality of opportunity in the society than college student aid. Although the states, through their university systems, remain the largest subsidizers of higher education, the federal government plays a major role, much larger than at the more fiercely fought-over elementary and secondary level. Aid has been greatly increased in the Clinton years, though largely to the middle class in the form of tax subsidies. The feds estimate that they provide some form and degree of support to more than half the country's postsecondary students. The patchwork of assistance remains in some respects irrational and inefficient.