Will Student Loans Be Available For Community College Students

By Bryce Q. Jarwoski

Obtaining a student loan for students at community colleges may have just become harder. In the current financial climate, the biggest banks in the country have reduced the colleges on their eligibility listings for student loans. Unfortunately, most of those removed are community colleges. It would appear that students attending the more expensive and elite colleges will still be able to get a student loan, but those attending community colleges will not. College education is being split into levels by this policy.

The reason behind the decision of the financial institutions is the current global credit crisis. Because it is harder to raise money, the banks do not have the funds to lend and so they have to cut down on the loans they offer.

On a brighter note, there are other lenders who claim they will continue to offer loans to all college students. Companies such as Nelnet and Sallie Mae have recently committed to continuing with the Federal government backed scheme and will lend to students attending any college. This is good news for those attending community colleges.

By far the best option for student loans is the federal student loan scheme. These loans have low fees, low interest that is fixed and is paid while you are studying. These government backed loans are available to all students regardless of their background or credit rating, and not dependent on the college they attend.

But there are students at community colleges that cannot access these cheap loans. Why? Because some of the community colleges do not support the federal scheme and this means their students cannot get the loan. These students have to make other arrangements to pay for their college tuition and expenses, and are often left with no other option but expensive private loans or credit cards.

The banks claim that these students are a higher risk category and more likely to default. Students at community colleges often come from low income families and should be entitled to cheaper federal loans. The colleges would be better supporting the scheme and teaching the students how to manage their finances and repayments.

About the Author:

Over at Student Loan Guru, we answer Student Loan questions from real College Students around the Nation. Whatever your question, odds are we can answer it. For example, one of the most common questions we hear is the question about paying back student loans. You'll discover these and other answers at our site.