"A shrunken student-loan industry, faced with the legislative fight of its life, has spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions over the last year and a half, even as subsidy cuts and a continuing credit crunch have squeezed its margins and driven dozens of banks from federal student lending," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Between January 1, 2008, and the end of June 2009, the top 20 participants in the federal bank-based loan program spent nearly $14-million lobbying the federal government, some $3.1-million of it in the first half of this year alone, according to a Chronicle analysis of federal records available through the Center for Responsive Politics. At the same time, they've showered members of the Congressional education committees with close to $600,000 in donations. The lenders' chief goal: to persuade Congress to reject President Obama's plan to end bank-based student lending. Lately, lenders haven't seen much of a return on their investment."