JPMorgan, which already restricted student loans to existing Chase bank customers, will stop accepting applications for private student loans on October 12, at the end of the peak borrowing season for this school year, according to a memo from the company to colleges that was reviewed

JPMorgan's decision comes after Congress acted in mid-2010 to bypass the banks and have the government lend directly to students. The federal government now issues 93 percent of student loans. Banks and other private lenders have also come under pressure from regulators and politicians to offer more flexible repayment terms on student loans.
http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/category/news/

•2008-09 through 2011-12: Cut subsidized Stafford loan interest rates for undergraduate students to 6.0%, 5.6%, 4.5% and 3.4%, with a return to 6.8% in 2012-13. These cuts are available only to undergraduate students, not graduate students, and only for subsidized Stafford loans, not unsubsidized Stafford loans. Those loans remain at 6.8%.
http://www.finaid.org/loans/historicalrates.phtml