One million community college students stuck with risky private student loans
If you have to borrow to pay for college, federal student loans are your best bet. But lots of undergraduate students have no access to federal student loans, because their schools choose not to participate in the federal loan programs.
According to a new issue brief from the Project on Student Debt, almost half of all U.S. undergraduates attend community colleges, and many of those students are denied access to the safest and most affordable way to borrow for college – federal student loans.
That stinks, because the unavailability of federal loans leaves students who don’t have their own cash up front borrowing risky and expensive private student loans.
Persistent Racial Disparities Found
The student’s least likely to have access to federal loans? African-American and Native-American students. The issue brief reports that nationwide, nearly one in five Native-American community college students and one in six African-American students attend schools that do not participate in the federal loan program.
Improvements Happening in Some States
My home state of North Carolina currently has the largest share of community college students without access to federal loans in the nation. Luckily, recent legislation requires all of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges to offer federal loans by 2011-12.
State-by-State Data and Recommendations for Change
The issue brief Still Denied: How Community Colleges Shortchange Students by Not Offering Federal Loans includes specific recommendations aimed at encouraging more schools to participate in the federal student loan program and state-by-state data on the share of community college students without access to federal loans.
My thanks to the hard working folks at the fabulous Project on Student Debt for another valuable contribution to college access and affordability.
