The House is expected to clear a bill Thursday that aims to ensure that student loans remain available despite the ongoing credit crunch.

The anticipated House action follows Senate passage on Wednesday. The rapid-fire pace reflects a sense of urgency in Congress, the Bush administration and the higher education community to fend off a loan shortage.

The House Rules Committee met Wednesday afternoon to allow Democratic leaders to call up the bill Thursday under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure that bars amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for passage. If that happens, the bill could become law within a matter of days.

The measure (HR 5715) would increase the total amount of federally backed loans that students can borrow and would boost the Education Department’s role in ensuring their availability.

Education Department officials have said it needs to be on the president’s desk by June 1 — and in place by July, when the high season for student borrowing begins — in order to make a difference.

“It’s important to implement those tools without delay,” said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. “You should expect the president to take quick action on this bill.”

The president and some GOP senators had wanted the Senate to simply clear the version passed by the House on April 17. But Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., steadfastly insisted on sending an amended bill to the House.

“The full scope of the problem isn’t clear yet, but we can’t afford to wait for a full-blown crisis before we act,” Kennedy said, adding that he is “very pleased that the Senate acted earlier today . . . and I look forward to prompt action in the House.”

The double impact of more than $20 billion in subsidy cuts enacted by Congress last year (PL 110-84) and this year’s global credit crunch have made it harder and more expensive for private lenders to get the money needed to make loans. More than 50 of them have stopped offering the federally backed loans, and some experts warn that without government action or stabilization of the market, that number will increase.

The bill would give the Education Department temporary authority to purchase existing loans that lenders are unable to sell as securitized debt. Senate education aides say such authority would lure buyers back to the market — thus enabling lenders to achieve liquidity in the usual ways.

It also would codify the “lender of last resort” program, which allows the government to advance funds to state guaranty agencies to make loans in case more lenders drop out of the student loan program.

The bill also aims to shelter students from more costly, entirely private loans, which also are becoming harder to get, by increasing the aggregate amount they can borrow through federally backed loans, which carry lower interest rates and better terms.

The measure would allow undergraduates whose parents claim them as dependents for tax purposes to borrow up to $31,000 in federal loans, an increase from the current limit of $23,000. The total for independent students would increase to $57,500 from $46,000.

The Senate passed the bill by voice vote Wednesday after inserting a substitute amendment, with a number of provisions.

Some of the Senate changes focus on regulating the lender of last resort program by requiring loans awarded through it to have similar terms and conditions as other federally backed loans. It also would subject those operating under that program to the same ethics rules as other lenders.

“This adds on the base bill good additional safeguards to ensure that the lender of last resort program is not abused,” said Luke Swarthout, a higher education associate at U.S. PIRG, which lobbies for students.

Swarthout and others had expressed concern that guaranty agencies and lenders could use the lender of last resort program — and the cheap federal money obtained through it — to offer schools great deals on loans or offer kickbacks for business and make huge profits.

Another provision of the Senate amendment would direct a stream of anticipated new revenue from the bill to Academic Competitiveness grants and SMART grants, which are awarded to the neediest students majoring in certain science, technology, math and foreign language fields.

The provision would make part-time students eligible for the grants. Kennedy’s office estimated that it would allow 100,000 more students to qualify for up to $4,000 more per year in need-based grant aid.

The new revenue would come from an anticipated increase in federal PLUS loans, as a result of changes in the bill making those loans more attractive to parents. The changes would allow parents to begin repayment after their son or daughter graduates, not 60 days after the loan is disbursed, as is currently the case. The boosted revenue from the increase in PLUS loans is expected to generate $430 million over the first five years, Kennedy aides said.

The amendment also included sunset provisions ensuring that the Education secretary’s authority to buy existing loans — and a new authority to designate entire colleges as eligible for the lender of last resort program — expire at the end of the 2008-09 school year.

The sunset provisions proved crucial to the bill’s success because they overcame the concerns of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who had said earlier in the week that he would object to the voice vote in the Senate.