Given the history of shady dealings between banks and colleges, Congress needs to take a hard look at the increasingly common practice of schools contracting with banks to disburse financial aid dollars to students.

In 2008, Congress finally barred student lenders from offering schools kickbacks to steer student business their way. The next year, it required credit card companies marketing to young people — and often paying schools or alumni associations for access — to ensure that applicants had the means to pay before issuing cards.

Debit cards have received less federal oversight. And, according to a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, an advocacy organization, nearly 900 colleges and universities have card relationships with banks or other financial institutions, some of which manage student aid disbursements by turning student IDs into debit cards. Some schools save money by outsourcing administrative costs. Others receive payments from the banks.

Lawmakers are now pressing for answers about these practices. Citing the study, Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, along with Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat of Rhode Island, and Representative Peter Welch, a Democrat of Vermont, sent letters to 15 financial institutions asking each to provide information on campus card fees.