Another resource is the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, www.mohela.com, 888-866-4352.

A private lender worth checking out is MyRichUncle, www.myrichuncle.com, 888-697-4248.

By the way, not all students will need to shop for federally backed loans. A minority of schools, including most of the University of California campuses, offer loans direct from the federal government, so there will be no preferred-lender list. The direct-loan approach is vastly cheaper for taxpayers - since it cuts out private lenders as intermediaries - and it can often be a better deal for students.

Only the direct-loan program, for instance, provides a financial safety valve that allows borrowers who choose lower-paying careers to make monthly payments based on their income, says Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The so-called income-contingent repayment provision, he says, "is worth its weight in gold."

Avoid private loans.

Unless you've maxed out the Stafford and PLUS, stay away from private loans. If you're a graduate student, there is no reason to obtain a private loan because Grad PLUS loans impose no lending limit. Unlike federally backed loans, private loans have no caps and the interest rates are variable. Some of these variable rates can be as bad as the subprime loans that have been burning homeowners.

What's more, private-loan lenders don't treat all borrowers equally, as the federally backed program does. Families with better credit ratings will receive better deals. Beware of private loans masquerading as school loans; they are nothing more than "marketing ploys," advises Robert Shireman, the executive director of the nonprofit Project on Student Debt, which promotes student loan reform.

Students will assume that school-branded loans are more favorable, but, Shireman warns, "most of these loans are just like any other private loans and in some cases they could be worse."

Because this is the third column in a row on college, I promise to move on to other subjects next week. But for those who can't get enough of this subject, I'm working on a book about college strategies.