A state court ordered Pennsylvania's Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) to make available several financial records after it was found to be violating the state's Right-To-Know Law yesterday.

The commonwealth court, in a 5-2 ruling, ordered PHEAA to make public its spending records, including credit card charges and employees travel records. It also required the agency to partially reimburse several news organizations for legal fees incurred while seeking the records, according to an Associated Press report.

"PHEAA failed to comply with its duty and responsibility under the Right-to-Know Law," Judge Doris A. Smith-Ribner said to The Associated Press. "The Right-to-Know Law favors public access regarding any expenditure of public funds."

PHEAA said because 16 of its 20 board members are also legislators, many of its documents are "legislative records" and are not subject to the Right-To-Know Law. PHEAA also claimed some records contain information that helps it to compete with other, private lenders, according to The Associated Press.

Keith New, vice president of communications at PHEAA, said the court's verdict will be helpful because it will help distinguish between what is public record and what is a "trade secret," or private information that, if divulged, would put PHEAA at a "competitive disadvantage."

"We needed a declared judgement from the court, to define what information we can and can't release," he said. "There is some information that competitors would love to have."

New said because any Pennsylvania resident can request public records, out-of-state competitors could easily obtain information about PHEAA.

"[Competitors] want to see who we are talking to, where we are branching off to," he said.

Three news outlets -- The Associated Press, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg and Pittsburgh television station WTAE -- filed requests for the records last year. In September, PHEAA filed suit in a commonwealth court and asked the records be deemed private. The outlets sued PHEAA and appealed its choice to keep the records private, which led to yesterday's decision, according to The Associated Press.

The court will allow PHEAA to keep personal information such as credit card, social security and bank account numbers confidential, according to The Associated Press.

At Penn State, 80 percent of students receive some kind of financial aid, said Bob Snyder, director of administrative services in the office of student aid.

The ruling is the latest in a series of woes for PHEAA. A month ago, PHEAA was issued an audit from the U.S. Department of Education's Inspector General over reimbursements it receives from the government. Gov. Ed Rendell later called for PHEAA to be overhauled and it's spending to be reevaluated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.