Even with this legislation in place, however, lenders continue to find themselves forced to suspend their student loan programs. Two Major Lenders the Latest Casualties of Student Loan Crisis

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.

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.

Students Face the Uncertainty of Switching Lenders

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 offeringprivate 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.