Courtesy of NOVA

Tuition and fees at most community colleges are pretty reasonable these days, about $3,500 a year. Which is why the vast majority of community college students don’t take out loans to cover their costs. But, according to the Institute for College Access and Success, a non-profit advocacy group based in California, nearly a million community college students who do need help paying for school don’t have access to federal student loans.

Debbie Cochrane, research director at TICAS, surveyed some 1,100 institutions and found that 237 simply don’t participate in the federal student loan program. So, for their students,federal loans aren’t an option. And that, says Cochrane, puts lots of students in a financial bind.

The American Association of Community Colleges doesn’t dispute these numbers, but Senior Vice President David Baime says there’s a perfectly good reason why one-fifth of the nation’s community colleges don’t offer federal student loans.

To learn why, read the rest of the story here: NPR.

By: Contributing Author

Stay updated by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.