IN BRIEF.

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STROUP STAYS: Sally L. Stroup, the U.S. Education Department's top higher-education official, said last week that contrary to widespread rumors, she will remain in the job under the new secretary of education, Margaret Spellings.

SALLIE MAE DECISION: A federal appeals court has thrown out a jury's 2003 ruling in a complex lawsuit filed against the student-loan giant Sallie Mae by the College Loan Corporation, one of Sallie Mae's toughest competitors in the federal program that lets students consolidate their loans. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed that the federal judge in the trial had erred in dismissing many of the most serious accusations against Sallie Mae. The case is expected to be sent back to the lower court for reconsideration, although Sallie Mae may appeal the appellate court's decision.

CATO REPORT: Congress should gradually phase out federal student aid when it drafts legislation to renew the Higher Education Act this year because the act has driven up the cost of tuition since it was passed, in 1965, said a report by the Cato Institute. The report concludes that while increases in financial aid through Pell Grants and other federal assistance programs have led more students to attend college, the growth of demand has had the "unintended consequence" of increasing the price of higher education.