The country's largest home loan lender, Wells Fargo, announced this week that it will be laying off 300 workers in its joint venture home lending unit due to new regulatory changes. The bank has withdrawn from eight joint mortgage ventures as state and federal laws have "increased the complexity and difficulty of operating mortgage joint ventures", a spokesperson said.Those holding student loans can breathe a sigh of relief today after the Senate passed a bill that would lower the interest rate to 3.9% from 6.8%. The House is now expected to also approve the new measure. Just recently, the rate doubled to 6.8% due to conflicts that developed in Congress. The new rate would apply retroactively for loans taken out after July 1.The regularly scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be held next week with a monetary policy statement being released at 2:00pm ET on Wednesday. The policy members will meet to discus interest rates and the state of the U.S. economy. The talk will also revolve around whether or not the Fed should pull back on its current stimulus program of purchasing Bonds in the open market. The program was designed to promote economic growth, lower the unemployment rate and to keep interest rates at low levels.