"Speaking at the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators conference Monday, Education Department officials tried to persuade colleges that President Obama’s proposed new Perkins Loan program would resemble the existing one," Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "But the student-aid administrators in the room weren’t buying it. Under the president’s proposal, colleges would no longer administer or collect on Perkins Loans. That responsibility would shift to the Education Department, which would also reclaim its share of the money now in colleges’ revolving funds. Most importantly, the loans would no longer be subsidized while students are enrolled. Students would pay interest while in college, or it would be capitalized when they graduated. That change would effectively convert Perkins Loans into low-cost private loans, making it harder for colleges to persuade low-income students to borrow, said Susan Fischer, director of student financial aid at the University of Wisconsin at Madison."