<p>Cross posting this on the financial aid board.</p>
<p>"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rampant abuses by lenders have followed a boom in higher-priced college loans not guaranteed by the government, and lax federal oversight has made the situation worse, New York's attorney general said Wednesday.</p>
<p>Andrew Cuomo told Congress his office has begun investigating lenders for possible discriminatory practices involving the criteria used for pricing student loans. Such criteria may include where a student lives and what type of college he attends, Cuomo suggested.</p>
<p>Already, his office has taken on student lenders and college financial aid officials over conflicts of interest. That includes kickbacks to college officials for steering students toward particular lenders.</p>
<p>Private student loans do not have their interest rates capped, unlike government-backed college loans generally.</p>
<p>The $17 billion market for private loans is "the fastest-growing segment of the student loan industry and (has) become the most fertile ground for unscrupulous practices," Cuomo said at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.....</p>
<p>At the same time, he said, "The Department of Education was asleep at the switch, but so were the banking regulators -- who must now wake up and act...."</p>
<p>The committee chairman, Sen. Christopher Dodd, said he would consider writing legislation that would extend to student loans the sort of fair-lending laws that cover home mortgages."</p>