"Mercyhurst College will soon start doing what some banks and other lending agencies can no longer do: provide federal student loans," the Erie Times-News reports. "The college announced this week that it will become a direct lender of federal student loans beginning with the 2008-09 academic year in an effort to protect students from ongoing turmoil in the student loan market. Mercyhurst's decision follows recent announcements that more than 30 educational loan lenders have pulled out from, or suspended their participation in, all or part of the federal student loan program because they are unable to fund the loans."