Romney laid out some of his proposals for higher education reforms in May 2012. His platform called for simplification of the federal financial aid system, which he described as "needlessly complex." He further proposed abolishing the current federal student lending system that was put in place by the Obama administration, under which the Department of Education makes loans directly to students; Romney proposed returning to the previous arrangement in which private banks and other third-party financial institutions would make the loans and be paid federal subsidies for the service.