Student Loans Avoid Credit Crunch, So Far

Washington

With an anxious eye on the troubled credit markets, Congress is urging the Department of Education to prepare for the possibility that families might face problems in securing student loans for higher education.

So far, lawmakers and department officials agree that the credit crunch hasn’t had much of an effect on the availability of federally backed student loans. Still, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has assured lawmakers that her department is taking steps to make sure federal remedies are in place should the situation change.

“Federal student aid will continue to be available,” Ms. Spellings said at a March 14 hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee on the...