On Thursday, December 15, The U.S. Department of Education announced Big Sandy Community and Technical College will be part of a Loan Counseling Experiment program. The program hopes to test the effectiveness of requiring additional loan counseling for student borrowers beyond the statutorily required one-time entrance and one-time exit counseling. Additional loan counseling is expected to help borrowers better understand their obligations and make more informed decisions about their debt. Only 50 institutions in the United State are part of the program. BSCTC dean of student services Jimmy Wright said the program allows for more interaction for students to make better informed decisions when pursuing student loans.