"Spellings may not be quite ready to call it a term yet, but she is beginning, both in speeches like the one at Harvard and in an interview with Inside Higher Ed in her Washington office last week, to assess the impact of her nearly four years in office," Inside Higher Education reports. "The interview covered some issues of immediate concern, notably the perceived short-term success that the department and Congress have had in ensuring that federal student loans remain available to borrowers and Spellings’s hope that the Treasury Department will not need to use the additional powers granted to it to help student loan providers in the new $700 billion bailout package for the financial industry. 'I feel cautiously optimistic,' Spellings said, rapping her knuckles on the wood conference table in her office. 'I'm pleased we took action when we did, and that Congress acted with dispatch ... and so far, students seem to be getting the financing they need... I understand that there is broad authority for the Treasury secretary ... and there is recognition by this department that this will be somewhat of an ongoing challenge. We're prepared to solve it here at the Department of Education.'"