"The Obama administration is trying to strong-arm America's colleges and universities into complying with a bill that hasn't been signed into law yet," writes Stephen Spruiell, a staff writer for the National Review Online. "The bill, which would replace current subsidized-student-loan programs with a government-run system, passed the House last month, but its fate in the Senate is far from clear. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Education Committee, plans to use the budget-reconciliation process to pass the contentious bill with a simple majority, but The Hill newspaper reports that it might not even have 51 votes. The bill is far from a fait accompli, making the administration's pressure campaign all the more egregious. Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter Monday to colleges and universities urging them to make sure they are ready to switch to the government-run system for the 2010-11 academic year. But most of the nation's 5,000 colleges and universities prefer to work with private lenders."