Colleges should increase aid as loans are cut

Many students depend on loans from student loan companies. Unfortunately, because of too-tightened credit markets — mainly caused by weak housing markets — some companies have announced a decrease in student loans. Now no applicant with a sub-prime credit score will be eligible to receive a student loan from Sallie Mae, the country’s largest provider of student loans. This decision will inevitably end a lot of students’ college aspirations.

For many, the only option for affording college is help from student loan companies, and if more follow Sallie Mae’s lead, anyone with a sub-prime credit score will be out of luck. It’s understandable that loan companies have decreased the number of loans provided for students. Sallie Mae experienced layoffs and lost $1.6 billion this past year. Businesses exist to make a profit; if they are losing over a billion dollars then the most logical solution is to cut loans.

Additionally, the College Cost Reductions and Access Act passed in September 2007 reduced the federal subsidies given to student loan companies, leading to additional losses. Luckily for Virginia Tech students, those who attend community colleges and for-profit schools will be hit the most with the loan decrease. However, there is a reason why a lot of these students are attending community colleges: they cannot afford the tuition of a public, let alone private, university.

Harris Miller, president of the Career Colleges Association, said in an interview with the Collegiate Times that 70 to 80 percent of Virginia students “can’t get into schools like Tech.” One reason for this is the inability to afford a school such as Virginia Tech, and now many of these students won’t have the opportunity to go to a community college, either.