Sputnik was a wake-up call for the US: Americans needed to be smarter.
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first Earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik. It was a clear sign to President Dwight Eisenhower that the US needed to be producing more scientists and engineers to compete with other nations. But there was one problem — the education system at the time was exclusive and shut out low- and middle-income people from participating.*
America wasn't going to catch up to the Soviets in the "space race" as long as that was the case.
Congress stepped in and created the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) at Eisenhower's request, which allowed the government to give loans to students in science and mathematics fields. It was later amended to remove restrictions on fields of study.*
https://www.businessinsider.com/sput...cation-2021-11
Went down a bit of a rabbit hole yesterday on Fed student loan history ... its needs some 2022 adjustments