Due to continuous inflation, banks and lending companies are 
beginning to tighten their standards for loan applications. This may be 
expected in an economic recession, but the effects brought about by 
these events are beginning to make a huge impact on American families 
nowadays, particularly to American parents who are sending their 
children to college.
American
 parents usually rely on loans to pay for their kids' college education.
 However, since lending companies and other student loan boards have 
started implementing stricter application processing and approval, this 
makes it more difficult for parents to provide for their children's 
college needs. Persons with good credit history are more likely to have 
their loans approved, but the irony is, those in good credit standing 
have less reason to apply for loans.
In a recent poll conducted by
 the New York Times/CBS News, nearly 70 percent of the American parents 
surveyed said that they are "very concerned" with the available options 
they can take to pay for their children's college education. Only about 6
 percent of the parents surveyed were "not concerned" regarding the 
issue. In response, the Department of Education gave assurances about 
the availability of federal loans, but the department still has to work 
things out with for guarantors and lenders to ensure that funds would 
not run out. Private lending companies, meanwhile, are fast becoming a 
prime alternative source for loans, but they, too, have increased their 
lending requirements.
According to the American Student Loan 
Services, parents borrow an average of $10,000 to pay for their 
children's initial college needs each academic year. Tuition alone costs
 roughly about $6,000 in public colleges and around $23,750 in private 
institutions. Parents usually pay on an installment basis, but this 
makes only a slight difference, since they also have other educational 
needs to provide for, such as room and board, computer equipment, living
 allowance and other miscellaneous fees.