WASHINGTON — Fraud, lax government regulation and talk of a taxpayer bailout.

It sounds like a litany from the savings and loan crisis. Instead, it is the story of federally guaranteed student loans.

The two problems cannot be compared in magnitude or severity, but there are parallels.

Both speak to the inherent abuses that can occur anytime the federal government attempts to protect private parties against risk. Both involve what critics charge is lax government oversight.

Cracks in the student loan system were underscored last week when the Higher Education Assistance Foundation, or HEAF, said it needed federal help to avoid a financial collapse.

HEAF is the largest of 47 state government and private, non-profit agencies guaranteeing student loans made by 12,000 commercial banks, savings and loans, credit unions and other lenders.

Based in Overland Park, Kan., it has guaranteed $8.8 billion in loans, or about 17 percent of the national total of $51 billion.

Disclosure of HEAF’s problems last Monday sent ripples through the financial markets, contributing to a 105-point plunge in the stock market during the first 90 minutes of trading.

At stake is a system that last year lent $12 billion, at subsidized rates, to 4.7 million students at 8,000 four-year universities, community colleges and trade schools.

Bankers say that if the government allows HEAF to default, the entire student loan program could be jeopardized.

“Student loans, if not for the guarantee, would be very risky and would probably not be made,” said Floyd Stoner of the American Bankers Association. “They are loans to people with no credit history, no assets and no fixed address.”

“If people get nervous, they tend to get more cautious. And the way you get more cautious as a lender is to make fewer loans,” he said.

Analysts say the market’s reaction to HEAF’s crisis is evidence of broader investor concerns about the federal budget deficit, which is being swelled by the S&L bailout, and the potentially staggering taxpayer liability for government guarantee programs benefiting farmers and home buyers, in addition to college students.

“The question is: How many of the government funding agencies will go the way of the thrift funding agency?” said economist Allen Sinai of the Boston Co.

Education Department officials rushed to reassure nervous lenders, borrowers and investors. They dispatched a team of auditors to HEAF offices and said they were hoping to avoid a default by finding another guaranty agency to take it over.

An administration official said that following a weekend meeting, Office of Management and Budget and Education Department officials hoped to resolve the problem this week.

“They (HEAF) have the cash flow to make it for another week,” the official said. “The situation is urgent but not so urgent that we don’t have time to sit back and assess our options.”

Student loan problems affect taxpayers in two ways: directly through the Education Department and indirectly through Sallie Mae, the Student Loan Marketing Association.

The Education Department is budgeted to spend $2 billion this year on student loan defaults. It reimburses guaranty agencies for 100 percent of the loss for default rates under 5 percent. Reimbursement drops to 90 percent when the default rate tops 5 percent and to 80 percent when the rate hits 9 percent.