Consider the following:
- A recent SLA survey found that over 65% of financial aid administrators are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the availability of alternative loans for the 2008-09 academic year.
- Credit card lines have been reduced and lenders are becoming more stringent. Asked recently how Bank of America Corp. is getting pickier about extending consumer credit, Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis Jr. responded: "That would be higher FICO scores and then an overlay of a human being looking at the credit (Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2008)."
- Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs), a popular source college funding source, have become more difficult to procure. According to an April survey by the Federal Reserveā¦Some 70 percent of financial institutions reported that they have tightened credit standards for new applications for revolving home-equity lines of credit, and half have reduced existing lines of credit (Christian Science Monitor, June 16, 2008).
SLA is also archiving and summarizing articles about Alternative Loans.
Given this backdrop, SLA wants to hear from you!
- Are you concerned about your student borrower's ability to find alternative loans?
- Do you have anecdotes of students or parents not able to get alternative loans at this early date?
- What strategies or contingency plans are you implementing to address this issue?
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