HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Education Dept. Proposes New Rules on Student Loans. “The U.S. Education Department today proposed new rules governing federal student loans, which would, among other things, ease the process by which disabled borrowers could have their loans discharged, establish a new income-contingent repayment plan for direct student loans, and expand the government’s income-based repayment program.” They need to make schools more responsible for students’ failure to repay.