In Declining Economy, Student Loans May Be More Difficult to Secure

Students are finding it increasingly challenging to find the money they need to pay for college as the credit crisis continues to hamper student loan providers’ ability to fund new loans, reports MustangDaily.net, the college newspaper of California Polytechnic State University (“Student Loans Harder to Come By in Uncertain Economy,” Oct. 30, 2008).

In 2007 alone, Cal Poly lost almost 25 percent of its student lenders, leaving many families scrambling to find a new student loan provider.

“Last year (Cal Poly students) borrowed through 76 different lenders,” said Lois Kelly, the school’s director of financial aid. “Nineteen of those lenders are now declining to make any student loans. That is a substantial number of lenders no longer in the market.”

With fewer lenders serving the school, Kelly says students will have a harder time finding a student loan provider that will “be there for them” until they graduate.

To date, more than 100 lenders have stopped issuing federal student loans and 37 lenders have stopped offering private student loans due to a reduction in federal subsidies and a lack of funding to make new loans.


Lending Problem Affecting Students Nationwide

A recent study conducted by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities revealed that out of the 500 institutions surveyed, nearly 50 percent reported that some of their students were dropping out of school or switching to part-time status because students couldn’t get college loans and couldn’t afford tuition costs without them.

“We lost a large portion of our freshman class who were unable to secure a private loan and whose parents were either denied a PLUS loan or could not take one,” said an unidentified NAICU survey respondent.

Of the students who were denied a student loan and chose to remain in school, many turned to credit cards, which are generally more costly, to help pay their tuition expenses.

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