and the financial institutions against the interests of students finally came to an end. you see, for almost -- >> [applause] >> >> for lum two decades, we've been trying to fix a sweetheart deal in federal law that essentially gave billions of dollars to banks to act as unnecessary middlemen in administering student loans. those are billions of dollars that could have been spent helping more of our students attend and complete college. that could have been spent advancing the dreams of our children. that could have been spent easing the burden of tuition on middle class families. instead, that money was spent padding student lenders' profits. now, it probably won't surprise you to learn that the big banks and financial institutions hired an army of lobbyists to protect the status quo.