Good Luck, Kids
Jul 28th, 2008 at 8:17 pm by Susie
Maybe this will break the education bubble:
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority today said it will not be able to provide any student loans this fall, which could leave tens of thousands of families in the lurch just weeks before college classes begin.
The nonprofit lending authority said it was unable to secure funding to provide private student loans. It is contacting more than 40,000 students and families to whom it has made loans in the past, to urge them to seek other options.
“As a result of our problems and the continued dislocation of the capital markets, we have been unable to raise funds for the coming academic year,” said Thomas M. Graf, executive director of the group.
In April, the authority — which is widely used by Bay State students — announced that it would no longer extend federally backed loans, due to the credit crunch that has roiled the student loan market. But on June 25, the authority had said it expected to be able to offer private loans at fixed rates by the end of July. The group has now abandoned that hope, Graf said. MEFA made $510 million in student loans in the last school year.
For families and students with tuition bills due in August, Graf said, “Time is relatively short. Parents and families really need to satisfy their bills.”
I wonder how my state is doing….
This ” inability to secure credit” is a recent complaint among my the college kids we know. Tonight a Tyler student said she couldn’t get a loan for supplies, in this, her final semester. My son was turned down for a credit card last week. He is a college senior too. Up to this point had a steady stream of “pre-approved” offers that came weekly in the mail. I dunno, maybe credit was too loose before. I kinda thought so, since we held off those mail offers until he was well into his internship.