College Aid Hasn't Disappeared — Yet

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

More students are applying for financial aid in these tough economic times. It can be a bit scary to have a son or daughter in college right now. But parents, don't panic, college aid counselors say there's still plenty of loan and grant money available to keep students in school, and they blame the media for creating unnecessary anxiety about the problem. NPR's Larry Abramson has more.

LARRY ABRAMSON: David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, sent out a survey in September to his members to answer this question:

Dr. DAVID WARREN (President, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities): Will students at independent private colleges have access to credit, to federal or private loans, or not?

ABRAMSON: Warren says private schools, by and large, reported, yes, the money is there.

Dr. WARREN: The vast majority of institutions were still able to access the credit, but there were institutions - but more importantly, a handful of students at institutions that could not access bank or private loans.

ABRAMSON: Those individual stories are heartbreaking. Petra Roter of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh says she hears them all the time.

Ms. PETRA ROTER (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh): About students who had a family member that got laid off and, you know, they're not sure how they're going to pay the bills.

ABRAMSON: Roter says she's seen a 39 percent increase in the number of requests for revisions in financial aid. That's what happens when a family's financial situation changes, and they want a review of their aid award. So the need is growing. But higher ed. officials say in most cases they can meet that need and keep students at school. Phyllis Hooyman is director of financial aid at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Ms. PHYLLIS HOOYMAN (Director of Financial Aid, Hope College): We have had no situation where a student hasn't been able to secure a private loan or a federal loan, so the spigots are still on, and students are able to get the assistance they need.

ABRAMSON: Hooyman and others say, yes, some banks have stopped participating in the federal loan program and standards for private loans are tighter. But with some extra effort, they found other sources. Phyllis Hooyman blames the news media for hyping stories of students dropping out of school, and that has made people anxious.

Ms. HOOYMAN: People are coming to our offices, saying, oh, I understand I might not be able to get my loan, when indeed they can.

ABRAMSON: It is still early in the financial crisis. Higher ed. folks caution that the situation may change if unemployment increases and as the next set of tuition bills come due. Some schools are feeling the pinch in a different way. Williams College in western Massachusetts has always been proud of having a big endowment for a small school. President Morton Schapiro says he doesn't know how big the endowment is now. He's afraid to look.

Dr. MORTON SCHAPIRO (President, Williams College): I try not to. I admit, I watched the Dow a little bit more than was good for my health.

ABRAMSON: Schapiro is an economist. He's decided to be proactive in protecting Williams against future shocks. So his school has postponed a $100 million capital improvement project.

Dr. SCHAPIRO: It was a major athletics facility. It was a really important one. It was a new track and grandstands and new football stadium.

ABRAMSON: As well as a big library construction project. But Schapiro says his school will offer more aid if that's what students need. So at this point, the economic crisis is not throwing vast numbers of students out of school. But no matter how much aid schools offer, tuition keeps rising, and paying for college isn't getting any cheaper. Larry Abramson, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.