In Electronic Announcement #47, the U.S. Department of Education states that on January 20, 2009, Straight-A Funding, under an eligible lender trustee agreement with the Bank of New York Mellon, entered into an agreement with the Department to serve as a conduit under the Asset Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) Conduit Program.  The announcement notes that while the conduit will be fully operational within the next several weeks, the Department cannot predict right now when the conduit will be able to begin providing funding to FFELP loan holders.  As such, the 2007-2008 Short-Term Purchase Program will be maintained through the end of February 2009. The last day the Department will accept offers to sell 2007-2008 loans under that program will be noon ET on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 with a purchase date of March 9, 2009.