"Since 1965, VSAC - the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation - has become the pathway to college for many Vermont families. But the agency's very existence is threatened by reforms that President Obama has insisted on in the wake of abuses in college financial aid that have emerged around the country," Vermont Public Radio reports. "The administration wants all college loans to be administered directly by the federal government - not by independent nonprofits like VSAC. That's why Don Vickers traveled to Washington this week. 'So if we were not involved in the loan business at all, that's certainly going to mean a major impact and a change on the service level in Vermont, not only in the loan areas, but the other areas, as well,' [Vickers said.] Vickers is the president of VSAC. The agency made a half-billion dollars in loans to college students last year and administers a portfolio of $3 billion in loans."