Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration on Thursday outlined their final agreement on legislation to overhaul the government's student-loan system, with the savings providing annual inflation-adjusted increases in the Pell Grant and billions of dollars in additional aid for higher education.

After months of delays, the proposal was approved by Democratic leaders as part of a strategy to help ensure passage of President Obama's health-care-reform legislation. The House of Representatives is expected to approve the combined student-aid and health-care plan this weekend, followed by the Senate.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended President Obama's proposed education budget for the 2011 fiscal year at a hearing held on Thursday by a panel of the U.S. House of Representatives. But a more immediate legislative issue -- the Obama administration's plan to end bank-based student lending -- emerged as the focus of the higher-education parts of the discussion.

What the classroom full of veterans wanted most was, as one of them put it, "to help our families understand what we went through." The course was in communication, and it was part of an educational program for veterans of the Vietnam war. The teacher -- my colleague in the federally funded program -- had asked them what they most wanted to learn, and that was their primary answer: to explain to those closest to them the hell they endured.

Congressional Democrats, amid negotiations overshadowed by the nation's prolonged health-care debate, appear to have reached agreement on student-loan legislation championed by President Obama that would pump billions of dollars into higher-education programs.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the chairmen of the two education committees in Congress, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. George Miller of California, have made plans to publicly outline the agreement on Thursday, aides said Wednesday.

With Latino Americans expected to make up more than 20 percent of the college-age population by 2020, most policy makers recognize that it will be nearly impossible to meet President Obama's college completion goals without significant improvement in the graduation rates of Hispanic students, which have long lagged those of other racial and ethnic groups, as numerous studies have documented.

After being laid off from his job repairing industrial machinery, 40-year-old Las Vegan David Dewees found himself in the unemployment line for the first time in his life.

It was an uncomfortable place for Dewees, who moved to Southern Nevada from the Midwest in 2005. He had always managed to find steady work, whether it was on the night cleaning crew at a local outlet mall or more recently fixing surface grinders and milling machines, a position where he had been promoted to supervisor and was earning $20 an hour.

But after months of continually reduced hours and reduced pay, Dewees was laid off last fall. He realized his opportunities weren't going to improve until he first improved his skills.

Dana College, a small Lutheran liberal arts institution in Nebraska, announced Tuesday evening that it is being sold to a new for-profit company. The sale comes just a year after another Lutheran institution, Waldorf College in Iowa, was sold to a for-profit entity.

Focused on ensuring students receive a valuable theoretical understanding of their preferred field as well as applicable experience, Canada's career colleges offer various employment specialization bolstered by insight into to the latest practices within.

Much of this expertise come directly from instructors. Invaluable, they are continually at the forefront of innovation thanks to regular utilization of their skills. One student's opinion of career college best defines it: "Like taking the express bus straight through without stopping ... Teaching can only be done properly if the student has hands-on experience."

In the coming days, the House and Senate will take a critical up-or-down vote on historic health insurance reforms. Tied to them will be the most significant reform of our federal student loan program in a generation. It will make college aid more effective and cost-efficient for families and taxpayers without increasing the deficit. Congress should support both measures.

The case for fixing today's backward student loan system is simple: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government is wasting $67 billion on subsidies to banks. President Obama and lawmakers, including some Republicans, believe these dollars could be better spent directly helping families pay for college.

The following letter was sent to the New York Times.

To the Editor:

Peter S. Goodman's March 14 article, "In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt," relies on a few anecdotes to attack an entire sector that's filling a vital role in providing higher education to 2.8 million Americans.

Reading the article, I came away with no sense of the career college sector's critically important role in educating almost 10% of postsecondary students, many of whom would otherwise be shut out of higher education and the opportunity to achieve their professional dreams and to grow our economy. Also ignored were the millions of satisfied and successful students who chose career education over other alternatives.