The government could partner with private investors to purchase these assets, which would free up the banks to lend out more money.

“We will continue to do whatever is necessary in the weeks ahead to ensure the banks Americans depend on have the money they need to lend, even if the economy gets worse,” Obama said.

Some have expressed concern that the banks were at fault for lending out too much money and have no right to be bailed out, finance professor Naveen Khanna said.

On the other hand, if the banks fail, the country will have even bigger problems, he said.

“I would have let a few of these banks fail, and I think we should have reorganized some of them,” Khanna said. “When people take a risk on the upside, they should also be penalized on the downside.”

Mark Skidmore, a professor of agricultural, food and resource economics, said although he is not sure how the details of the plan will work out, he likes the idea of clearing the bad assets from banks’ balance sheets.

“The market responded positively to the news,” Skidmore said. “The idea of buying up toxic assets might really free up credit markets and get everyone going again.”

Political science and pre-law senior Michael Zumberg said he doesn’t think aiding banks will affect students in the short run, but it will be important in the long run.

“If, in about a year, the banks are more stable, they’ll be able to lend more and we’ll be able to get more student loans,” he said.