U.S. Government-supported understudy advances were at first offered in the 1950s under the National Defense Education Act (NDEA), and were only open to pick characterizations of understudies, for instance, those inspecting toward outlining, science, or preparing degrees. The understudy advance framework, nearby distinctive parts of the Act, which supported school instructor get ready, was developed in light of the Soviet Union's dispatch of the Sputnik satellite, and a wide perception that the United States was falling behind in science and advancement, in the midst of the Cold War. Understudy credits were expanded more widely in the 1960s under the Higher Education Act of 1965, with the target of enabling more critical social adaptability and equalization of chance.

Going before 2010, Federal advances included both direct credits—began and financed particularly by the U.S. Division of Education—and guaranteed credits—began and financed by private monetary authorities, yet guaranteed by the focal government. Guaranteed credits were shed in 2010 through the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act and supplanted with direct advances as an aftereffect of a conviction that guaranteed progresses benefitted private understudy advance associations at nationals cost, yet did not reduce costs for understudies.