Crunch

From the Washington Post on the continuing crunch for credit...

"This is the equivalent of a hurricane coming, and staging food and water at the site," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in an interview. "Our responsibility is to be prepared for every eventuality."

Some colleges are already saying that their students' expected financial needs for the fall semester are outstripping what lenders are willing to provide...

The tumult is likely to push hundreds, if not thousands, of firms out of the student lending business, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, a Web site that provides financial advice for students. Of particular concern is the number of firms leaving the business of making federally guaranteed loans, which, besides parents, are the primary source of financing for students' higher education.

Ripple, quake, crunch, and shake... there's a point in the movie "Titanic" where passengers are playing with the broken ice on the deck after the collision. Not long afterward, reality sets in: the ship is sinking.

Large institutions today cannot tell you whether they've just grazed the iceberg, or whether it's ripped through their hulls. In the case of higher education for next year, it looks like a big gaping hole and there's not enough life boats.