It’s crunch time for college students trying to secure the money they need for the fall semester. But with lenders continuing to suspend their student loan programs — the count now stands at 131 federal loan lenders and 30 private loan lenders — students may find themselves challenged to locate lenders that are still offering federal or private student loans.

 

 

 

In an attempt to help lenders be able to continue making new federal student loans, the government included a provision in the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, signed into law in May, aimed at providing capital for cash-strapped lenders.

 

 

Under this legislation, the Department of Education can buy federal college loans from lenders, thereby providing these lenders with the liquidity they need to continue funding new parent and student loans. The law specifically targets lenders who, in the current credit crunch, are unable to find investors in the secondary market willing to purchase their student loan portfolios.

 

 

 

Even with this legislation in place, however, lenders continue to find themselves forced to suspend their student loan programs. As recently as July 28, the Brazos Higher Education Service Corp., the 26th-largest originator of federal student loans in 2007, and the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, the largest student loan issuer to Massachusetts residents, both announced that they would no longer be able to provide either new or current borrowers with student loans.

 

 

 

As the suspensions of both federal and private student loan programs keep spreading through all types of lenders — large and small; for-profit and nonprofit; banks, non-banks, and credit unions; state loan agencies and schools-as-lenders — students and their families are finding themselves with fewer borrowing options to get the parent and student loans they need to pay the fall tuition bills that are coming due over these next few weeks.

 

 

 

Two Major Lenders the Latest Casualties of Student Loan Crisis

 

 

 

The Brazos Group, a primarily nonprofit group of higher education lending, servicing, and other financial aid companies, first announced that it would stop offering federal college loans back n March. In May, however, after the government passed the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, Brazos once again began offering federal parent and student loans, saying that the government’s short-term liquidity plan had renewed the organization’s confidence in its ability to continue offering student loans.

 

 

 

But Brazos once again suspended its education lending program late last month, citing continued turmoil in the student loan industry.

 

 

 

Brazos Executive Vice President Ellis Tredway said his organization simply “ran out of time to get everything in place” to issue new student loans for the fall.

 

 

 

The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which issued more than $500 million in college loans to 40,000 Massachusetts college students and their families last year, had already suspended its federal student loan program in April. Now, MEFA has also pulled the plug on its non-federal private loan program, which provided Massachusetts students with fixed-rate private student loans.

 

 

 

“While we continue to pursue every possible option, raising the necessary funds to offer fixed–interest rate private education loans is taking longer than originally projected and has become even more challenging,” said Tom Graf, MEFA’s executive director.

 

 

 

Students Face the Uncertainty of Switching Lenders

 

 

With over 8 million students and parents having turned to federal college loans in 2006–07, according to the College Board, the number or families that stand to be affected by the ongoing wave of lender departures this year is not unsubstantial.

 

 

Last week, financial aid officers at Texas A&M University — a school with over 54,000 students — heard from seven different lenders warning that they would no longer be able to offer federal student loans, a situation that has made more than a few borrowers uneasy.

 

 

 

Dyneche Duffield, an incoming college student headed to Houston Baptist University, is uncomfortable with the prospect of having to establish a relationship with a new lender other than her local bank, which used to offer student loans.

“I would have much rather taken out a loan there than somewhere where I didn’t know anyone,” Duffield said.

 

 

 

While students like Duffield may still be able to go directly to the Department of Education for their federal college loans or find those remaining lenders who are still offering private student loans (albeit with more stringent credit criteria that are making it harder for students to qualify), the magnitude of the problem within the student loan credit markets and how deeply it has permeated the college loan industry is alarming to many administrators and officials in higher education.

 

 

 

Kathryn Osmond, executive director of student financial services at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, finds the situation with MEFA to be particularly indicative of a long-lasting and serious problem.

 

 

“An economy that is in such a tailspin that it affects a critical agency like MEFA,” said Osmond, “is an economy that scares me.”

 

 

By: Jeff Mictabor

To most people the only source of loans are banks and credit unions. However the finance world has many more players than that. Real estate investors have long used private mortgage investors as a way of buying real estate. Small businesses are now learning they can also use private investors to secure the funds they need to expand their businesses.

Private investors are individuals who are willing to lend their money to other people. In return the private lender receives a higher interest rate than they would get if they just put their money in the bank. Every private lender has their own lending criteria, which is often less strenuous than the red tape of a bank. I don’t meant to imply that getting a private loan is easy or guaranteed, rather just that the terms and conditions of a private loan are far more flexible because you only have to convince one person of the merits of your business proposition.

Make sure the business deal is a good one. Don’t waste your time or theirs by approaching them without a business plan or having done your due diligence. You often only have one shot to impress a private investor so don’t go into the meeting unprepared. Be confident but take any critique they offer to heart. They may help you by giving you solid insight into why you should not go forward with the plan you presented them or at least show you where your plan is weak. Listen carefully and take notes on what is said if the person declines to invest. You can tweak your business plan for the next potential investor. Or maybe the investor will say that you should fix the plan and come see them again.

Most private investors are savvy business people themselves and will understand a good business transaction when they see it. They will also be able to see through any scam someone may try to pull. Private lenders are not going to invest in a bad deal. If your business idea has merit then chances are the private lender will discuss terms with you. You are not obligated to take the terms of their loan anymore than the lender is obligated to fund the loan. Negotiate the terms to see if you can get a lower interest rate if you think it is too high. Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower interest rate or a longer period to repay.

By: Rhonda Holland

Private student loans are the loans that are given by the banks over and above the student aid that is given to the students. These loans are also called as the alternative student loans.

These loans are paid generally to the school in which you are enrolling. In general the banks prefer it to be directly given to then school. However since these are private student loans there are banks and credit unions which give these loans directly to the students.

The reason for this is simple as that will mean that the students can use these loans to buy books or a computer or even to pay their living expenses. This cannot happen if the loans are given directly to the school. That said before applying for the private student loans make sure that you check as to how the proceeds be given.

If in case the proceeds are not given to you directly then you can try another lender. Please make sure that when you apply for the loan that you specify the exact purpose for which you need the loan. This helps in getting the loan application approved. Once approved tell the approving bank for the person in whose name the check should be written by the bank. The side benefits of receiving the funds directly are that your school loan limits are not exhausted and it is as good as your personal loan.

Make good use of the loan and repay it back faster as these private student loans are very expensive.

By: Bruce Victor