And in further terrible economic news, school loans for some are endangered by the credit crunch spawned by the subprime mortgage loan crisis.

Many college students across the nation will begin to see higher costs for loans this spring, while others will be turned away by banks altogether as the credit crisis roiling the U.S. economy spreads into yet another sector, student lenders and Wall Street firms say.

Students seeking federally guaranteed loans, which are popular because they offer fixed, below-market rates, could be required to pay higher fees to borrow money, according to university finance directors and lenders.

An even greater burden may fall on those taking out private loans, which have become increasingly common as students look for new sources to finance the soaring costs of college. These loans often have variable rates, and they are projected to jump this year.

And at community and for-profit colleges, some students may be denied private loans entirely because the financial industry considers them riskier investments than their peers at other educational institutions.

I repeat my call for reform not only of the public school system but just as importantly higher education.

In what is the fourth major legislative victory for Democrats this year, the House and Senate today both approved with veto-proof margins a bill to cut federal loan interest rates and boost student aid by $20 billion.

Specifically, the bill will increase the maximum Pell grant, which goes to the poorest college students, from $4,310 a year to $5,400 a year by 2012 and will cut interest rates on federally backed student loans to poor and middle-class students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next four years. The bill also sets up a loan-forgiveness program for college graduates who work for 10 years in public service professions, such teaching or nursing and caps annual payments for students at a percentage of their income.

President Bush had previously threatened a veto, but the White House said today he would sign it. The legislation will begin taking effect on October 1st.

Something Republicans would actually allow a vote on:

The Senate overwhelmingly approved a wide-ranging overhaul of student loan programs early today that would pay for more than $17 billion in grants and other student aid by slashing subsidies to lending companies.

Democrats and student advocates said the legislation, which passed in a 78 to 18 vote, would help millions of Americans pay for college in a time of steady and often steep tuition increases…

The measure would cut subsidies to lenders by about $18 billion over five years and boost student aid by $17.4 billion during that period, with the rest of the savings used to reduce the federal budget deficit. The biggest aid increase would raise the maximum annual Pell grant, the nation’s main aid program for low-income students, from $4,300 to $5,400 a year by 2012.

The bill now heads to a conference to reconcile differences with a version the House passed last week that would cut the interest rate on some federal loans in half. The White House has threatened to veto the House measure over this provision, so the final version will likely be closest to this one the Senate passed.

The House voted 273-149 today on legislation to halve interest rates on student loans and increase the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 per year to $5,200 per year by 2011. Pell grants go to poor students and don’t have to be repaid. To pay for the proposal, lawmakers would cut roughly $19 billion in federal subsidies to banks that issue government-backed student loans. The interest rate on federally subsidized loans for low-income and middle-class students will go from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over five years. The House previously voted to approve that cut, but the Senate never considered it. But a similar bill to this one is pending in the Senate that puts more money into Pell grants. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy the chairman of the Senate education committee, has said he wants to move that legislation this month. A bill previously passed by the House seeks to end improper relations between colleges and their employees and student lenders. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate too.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman introduced a bill that would establish a mandatory cap on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, refineries and industrial plants but allow companies to trade emission credits and avoid making emissions cuts if the costs become too high. The bill would establish carbon emission limits throughout industry to assure that the releases do not grow significantly over the next two decades. Carbon emissions would have to be at 2006 levels in 2030, instead of growing at the rate of more than 1 percent a year as is projected without emissions caps. Many environmentalist argue that more stringent restrictions are needed to combat global warming. Bingaman said his bill has a goal of cutting carbon dioxide releases by 60 percent from 2006 levels by mid-century, but he acknowledged that would require a future president to increase emission controls, something that is allowed in the bill. It may not go far enough, but it’ll be a good step in the right direction if it passes.

President Bush ordered former Counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional subpoena and refuse to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors, even as former White House political director Sara Taylor did so today (and answered few questions). House Democrats threatened to cite Miers if she refused to appear as subpoenaed for a Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. The White House said she was immune from the subpoena and Bush had directed her not to appear, according to Miers’ lawyer.