Students are struggling with high tuition costs, a poor job market, and the shrinking availability of private student loans:
The private market for community college and trade school loans has virtually dried up in many parts of the country.
“At this point we don’t really have anyone we can direct them to,” Rachel Cavenaugh, assistant director of financial aid at CFCC said about private lending options. “Some of the ones we were working with no longer do loans with community colleges.”
Private sector lending for undergraduate expenses exploded in the last decade, according to a 2007 College Board report.
Students tapped about $1.5 million in private sector loans during the 1996-1997 school year, and $14.5 million last academic year – a growth of more than 890 percent.
Still, it’s a small sliver of the financial aid pie, and local students who turn to them typically are those paying out-of-state tuition and have tapped out federal loans, which carry more favorable terms.
CFCC officials said about 10 percent of the college’s student body seek out private loans.
Source: StarNewsOnline
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