Of the schools that provided federal student loans in each year since 1994-95, approximately 1,200—or 29 percent—provided loans through the Direct Loan Program, and most of those schools continued to participate in the Direct Loan Program in school year 2001-02. In 2001-02, public 4-year schools provided the largest share of Direct Loan volume, about $ billion, or 67 percent, although roughly equal numbers of public 4-year, private 4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year schools participated. The Direct Loan Program’s share of total new loan volume has steadily decreased from its peak of 34 percent in 1998-99 to 28 percent in 2001-02. During this period, only 34 schools began participating in the program,.
