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KAI RYSSDAL: Wall Street's credit crunch has come to the world of student loans. Back in April, a group of investors agreed to pay $25 billion for the federally chartered student loan company Sallie Mae. Since then, of course, much of the financing for those big leveraged buyouts has dried up. Today, we learned the potential buyers want to renegotiate their purchase price. Another thing that's weighing on their minds is a bill the president signed today -- it'll pump another $20 billion into federally-backed student aid programs, in part by cutting subsidies to lenders like Sallie Mae. Commentator Kim Clark says more money for college students is all well and good. But we ought to check the math on how we factor those costs in the first place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KIM CLARK: You know how kids crack open algebra textbooks and whine "Why do I have to learn formulas? Nobody uses this in the real world!" Wel...

WASHINGTON - Elementary and middle schoolers posted solid gains in math and more modest improvements in reading in national test results released Tuesday. The test scores landed in the midst of a raging debate in Congress over renewal of President Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education law, and provided ammunition for those who want to see it extended with minimal changes. "If we hadn't seen progress today, I think it might have been the death knell for renewing the law," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. "It's definitely going to give the proponents some evidence that five years into the experiment, we're seeing some uptick in some parts of the country." Bush welcomed the news, calling it proof that his policies are "producing positive results for students across the country." The 2002 law requires schools to test students annually in math and reading. School...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Los Angeles metropolitan area led the nation in traffic jams in 2005, with rush-hour drivers spending an extra 72 hours a year on average stuck in traffic, according to a study released on Tuesday. The metropolitan areas of San Francisco-0akland, Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland, and Atlanta were tied for the second most gridlocked areas, according to the study by the Texas Transportation Institute. Drivers in those three areas spent an extra 60 hours on average during peak periods, defined as 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the study found. But drivers in other regions around the country were not much luckier. The report (http://mobility.tamu.edu) found traffic gridlock worsened in all 437 large, medium and small urban centers in 2005. "What causes congestion? In a word, 'you.' Most of the Mojave Desert is not congested," wrote report authors David Schrank, associate research scientist, and Tim Lomax, research engineer. The Texas Tra...

By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That's compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles. In its annual national auto survey, the magazine found 6,769 readers who had logged more than 200,000 miles on their cars. Their cars included a 1990 Lexus LS400 with 332,000 miles and a 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up that had gone 488,000 miles. Calculating the costs involved in buying a new Honda Civic EX every five years for 15 years - including depreciation, taxes, fees and insurance - the magazine estimated it would cost $20,500 more than it would have cost to simply maintain one car for the same period. Added to that, the magazine factored in $10,300 in interest that could have been earned on that money, assuming a five percent interest rate and a three percent inflation rate, over that time. The magaz...

Kai Ryssdal: The pool of federal money that funds student aid programs is about to get $20 billion deeper. Last night, Congress agreed on a deal to cut subsidies to banks that issue those loans and use the money for aid programs directly. Today, The White House said the president will be signing the bill. We've been talking about education this week. About the accessibility of a college degree for people who might not ordinarily be able to get one. People like Reyes Ventura. From North Carolina Public Radio, Paul Cuadros reports. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Cuadros: Reyes Ventura was once a star defender for his small-town high school soccer team in central North Carolina. The team won a state championship in 2004 -- the first predominantly Latino team to do so in that state. Members of that team still come together at a local park in Siler City on weekends to play. When Reyes graduated a year ago last June, he took a const...

Kai Ryssdal: It's technically still summer, but the vacation is over for almost everyone of school age in this country K-12 and beyond. More people from almost every background go to college today than did so 30 years ago. But if you're thinking ivy-covered halls, think again. From North Carolina Public Radio, Laura Leslie reports some students may be learning to dream small. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura Leslie: It's lunchtime at Chapel Hill high school, one of the most academically competitive schools in North Carolina. It's a good school, by any measure, but it's also an easy place for at-risk kids to get lost. That's why counselors here started the Blue Ribbon program to help push those students through high school and into college. Most of the students in the program are minority kids from low-income families, like Alisha Lee. Alisha's a senior this fall and she already knows she's going. Sh...