The AAMC has responded to proposed Department of Education regulations requiring that preferred lender lists (used by school financial aid administrators to recommend student loan companies) include at least three nonaffiliated lenders. The draft regulations would also require financial aid administrators to provide an explanation of how these lists are developed, as well as comparative information about the interest rates and benefits of the preferred lenders. In a letter to the department's Negotiating Committee for Student Loans, the AAMC explained the benefits of institution-lender relationships and cautioned the committee that regulations "need to be carefully crafted so they do not inadvertently encourage lenders to circumvent well-established safeguards and market directly to student without the guidance of trained professional." For more information, please visit
http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/library/educ/corres/2007/030807.pdf.