For fiscal accountability and responsibility to be maintained, intrinsic transparency is certainly necessary. There is, however, a dire need for reform of educational loans. The current system makes it too easy for both the unaware and those who are knowledgeable enough to manipulate it. There needs to be more checks and balances in place to encourage the unaware to make more informed credit worthy decisions, as well as to deter would-be manipulators of the system. To protect future ‘security clearance entanglements,’ a credit-based pre-test application for a loan may be one possible solution. Musings