The House on Thursday passed legislation intended to ensure that students can get federally backed loans for school this fall, as lenders faced more bad news.

The 383-27 vote came a day after Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender, announced it lost $104 million in the first quarter, and said almost all its new loans will be made at a loss.

JP Morgan/Chase and Citigroup have also said they will be more selective in the schools to which they lend, likely meaning they will back away from schools with high default rates — most frequently community colleges, schools that historically serve minorities and others that educate many people from low-income backgrounds.

At least 57 lenders have already dropped out of the federally backed Federal Family Education Loan program this year, driven away by the credit crunch, which has essentially frozen sales of packaged loans on the secondary market.

Sallie Mae has said its application for new loans were up roughly 20 percent from last year, as students who previously used other lenders turned to it for help.

The House bill, sponsored by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller , D-Calif., would authorize the Education Department to purchase student loans at a discount, increasing liquidity, and it would raise the limits on how much students can borrow in federally backed loans. Those loans carry lower interest rates than private loans.

The bill would allow undergraduates who are dependents of their parents to borrow up to $31,000 in federal loans, up from a current limit of $23,000. The total for independent students would increase from $46,000 to $57,500.

The measure also would expressly authorize the department to advance funds to guarantee agencies, allowing them to act as lenders of last resort if more private lenders drop out.

Miller said the bill would ensure that students can pay for college “regardless of what happens in the credit market.”

In the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., has introduced a similar bill, which he is working to get through that chamber as quickly as possible.