Students at Wisconsin's technical and two-year college campuses are being urged not to worry about obtaining financial aid.
Major lenders, such as Chase and CitiBank, say they'll no longer make loans available to students at those institutions. Nancy Merrill with the Wisconsin Technical College System says most of them are getting out of the education market because of the credit crisis and because of federal restrictions that have made the loans less profitable.
The decision has some students worried they won't be able to obtain financial aid. However, Merrill says that's won't be the case at Wisconsin's 16 tech colleges, where she says many options are still available for student who need assistance paying for school. She says many campuses still have dozens of lenders who can help.
There are also concerns that fewer lenders could drive up the cost of borrowing money for school. Merrill says students can avoid the problem by seeking subsidized federal financial aid, because those rates are typically locked in by the government. She says lenders often provide incentives for students as well, if they pay of loans quickly.