In this Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 photo, Xavier University student Triton Brown studies in a common area on campus before going to one of his part time jobs in New Orleans. Thousands of students unexpectedly either had to stay at home, transfer to a less expensive school or find new money when the U.S. Department of Education quietly changed how it evaluated the credit of parents applying for a federal PLUS loan. Brown, a Milwaukee native who is a freshman at Xavier University of Louisiana, said his family was counting on a PLUS loan, but his mother's application was rejected after he had been accepted the previous semester. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Protesters from the National Audubon Institute, the Gulf Restoration Network and other organizations stand outside Federal Court on the first day of the Gulf oil spill settlement trial in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is scheduled to hear several hours of opening statements Monday by lawyers for the companies, federal and state governments and others who sued over the disaster. Barbier is hearing the case without a jury. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In this Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 photo, Xavier University student Triton Brown studies in a common area on campus before going to one of his part time jobs in New Orleans. Thousands of students unexpectedly either had to stay at home, transfer to a less expensive school or find new money when the U.S. Department of Education quietly changed how it evaluated the credit of parents applying for a federal PLUS loan. Brown, a Milwaukee native who is a freshman at Xavier University of Louisiana, said his family was counting on a PLUS loan, but his mother's application was rejected after he had been accepted the previous semester. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In this Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 photo, Xavier University student Triton Brown studies in a common area on campus before going to one of his part time jobs in New Orleans. Thousands of students unexpectedly either had to stay at home, transfer to a less expensive school or find new money when the U.S. Department of Education quietly changed how it evaluated the credit of parents applying for a federal PLUS loan. Brown, a Milwaukee native who is a freshman at Xavier University of Louisiana, said his family was counting on a PLUS loan, but his mother's application was rejected after he had been accepted the previous semester. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)