Sheldon Roodman, executive director of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, said the work these groups do is critical.

Following this visit the President began planning for the establishment of the Democratic Transition Assistance Foundation of Mongolia.

"I've seen 300 cases," said Ira J. Rheingold, supervisory lawyer for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.

At the same time, the Education Department has decided to endorse a private-sector takeover of the troubled guarantee agency, known as the Higher Education Assistance Foundation.

Education experts say the troubles at the largest guarantor, the Higher Education Assistance Foundation, might be the blow that forces changes in how student financial aid is administered.

Defaults at trade schools, also called proprietary schools, have helped lead the nation's largest student-loan guarantor, the Higher Education Assistance Foundation, to the brink of collapse.

Hilliker, a long-time member of the board for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, has taken over as president of the organization.

The Higher Education Assistance Foundation, a nonprofit corporation based in Overland Park, Kan., guarantees nearly $10 billion in student loans.

Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago Prairie State Legal Services, Inc.

The Afghan Cultural Assistance Foundation.