The Oncoming Student Loan Crisis
Does the Current Credit Crisis Affect Student Loans?
How the Government is Trying to Prevent the Student Loan Crisis
How Does the Plight of Student Lenders Affect My Existing Loans?
Rising Tuition Costs and Your Student Loans
Student Loan Lenders Dropping Like Flies
Should I Let My Student Loans Go to Collection?
How Does FAFSA Affect My College Financing?
Who Should Consolidate Their Student Loans?
My Federal Student Loan Doesn’t Cover the Entire Cost of My Education
Recession, credit crunch, economic downturn - all popular words you’ve probably read a lot of lately in relation to the United States current economy. It’s currently affecting mortgages and the stock market among other sectors, but many people are concerned that it could soon influence the availability of student loans. Student loans are vital in the United States and allow millions of students to get a higher education that they otherwise could never afford. A major reduction in student loan availability could have far reaching effects on the entire nation. Fortunately, you can put most of those fears to rest, at least for the time being. Currently, there is not an education loan crisis for students; they are obtainable as abundantly as ever and should be for the foreseeable future. According to a recent informal survey, at least 25 of the surveyed schools claimed student lending is just fine. It’s lenders that have to adjust to the changing market, not students, and some are having a more difficult time than others. Recently, several lenders have at least limited their student loan lending. While students are safe for the moment, it’s important to be prepared for the slim chance of a student loan crisis.
However unlikely a student loan crisis is, many people are taking steps to prepare for it or avoid it entirely. The student loan market is already being closely monitored and the federal government is doing what it can to avert a major crisis before it happens. There have been some rumblings that many colleges will be looking at moving out from the Federal Family Education Loan Program to the Direct Loan Program. In the Federal Family Education Loan Program, students get federal loans through private lenders, while the government provides money directly to the students in the Direct Loan Program. It’s being argued that the Direct Loan Program is more economical, in that the government doesn’t have to pay private lenders millions of dollars in subsidies. Some people also hope to increase the amount of money students can borrow through these federal loan programs - primarily because students are turning to expensive private loans when they can’t get enough from the federal government. These private loans often carry an exuberant amount of fees and much higher interest rates, sometimes pushing as high as 20%. Clearly, with or without a major student loan crisis, it’s important to prepare for the future and continue to refine our current system.
