Under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, private lenders provided loans to students that were guaranteed by the federal government. These loans included Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans, FFEL PLUS Loans, and FFEL Consolidation Loans. Federal student loans under the FFEL Program are no longer made by private lenders. Instead, all new federal student loans come directly from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) under the Direct Loan Program.


FFEL Loans were previously known as Guaranteed Student Loans.