The federal government supports some private activities—such as home ownership, postsecondary education, and certain commercial ventures—through credit assistance offered to individuals and businesses. Some of that assistance is in the form of direct federal loans, and some is through federal guarantees of loans made by private financial institutions. At the end of fiscal year 2011, about $ trillion was outstanding in such federal direct loans and loan The cost of providing credit assistance is an important consideration for policymakers as they allocate spending among programs and choose between credit assistance and other forms of aid such as federal grants—but assessing cost is not a simple matter. Indeed, it is more difficult to.
