Federal student lending began when the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik and kicked off the Space Race. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, who had benefitted from a student loan himself, pushed the federal government to create the first student loan program, which would promote science and technology education among America’s next generation. Seven years later, now-President Johnson signed into a law a successor program which he hoped would allow young people from all walks of life to attend college. Modern student lending was born.
