Monday, January 26, 2009

Poor Economy May Keep You From Getting A Student Loan

By Ronaldo Q Cacheezey

The global credit crisis and decreasing money available for borrowing are affecting another area for students. Student loans for US students wanting to attend college have traditionally been accessible, but it seems as though this reliable source of funds for college may be going South. Student Loan companies, which used to dish out funds for college under the Federal government backed student loans, are finding this is not profitable enough for their bottom line in the current global credit crisis.

It's been reported that a state agency has stopped a loan program that serves those seeking financial aid. This will affect 100 universities and colleges and there are fears that other agencies and colleges may follow the same path. Some say this was because of the credit crisis.

Most funds for college,loans for students has traditionally been supported and provided by some of the largest banks like Citibank, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. They have ceased supporting the low-risk security that funds for college have always been behind. On top of this, financial experts are predicting that education assistance will start to become more costly, putting extra strain in this area.

The major source of student loans is a federal government scheme in which it backs loans to means-tested students. The student loans are often used for tuition fees and then a further private loan is usually needed to cover general expenses. It is these private loans which will become more difficult to obtain. As yet, there is no evidence to suggest that lenders are failing to support their obligations to the federal loans.

The effect of the credit squeeze will affect those families with poor credit ratings and lower incomes. The people who have been caught up in the mortgage crisis may have children studying at college, who will no longer be able to access student loans because of their parents' credit score.

It has been estimated that about 100,000 students will not qualify for private or government loans this year due to poor credit. Add to this the decreasing number of companies providing student loans, and there will be problems for many college students.

For those who are caught between a rock and hard place with this credit crisis, a trip to your schools financial aid department is in order. They will be able to steer you in the right direction to find student aid assistance.

Should all your efforts fail and you find yourself unable to get student aid for your College studies, you may have to resort to an old school way of getting an education. By working your way through College! Yeah, it's an unheard of option of getting an education these days, but it's a way to get an education and come out of college with no student loan debt. You will just have to cut back on the excessive partying and road trips. It all comes down to how bad you want to get an education to secure your future. - 16732

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