Learn About Student Peer To Peer Lending

Costs for higher education are soaring, and with students up against rising interest rates, it's harder than ever to finance a college education . Students and parents borrowed an estimated $17.1 billion in private loans in 2006-7, representing 22% of all lending that year. Now the subprime mortgage meltdown has changed the student loan landscape, and not necessarily for the better.

"A lot of easy money was going into education via the home acting as a piggy bank through refinancing," says Akash Agarwal, CEO of GreenNote, a social networking and microfinance website. "That has completely stopped." It's increasingly difficult for parents to take out home equity lines, and students are looking away from traditional avenues such as Sallie Mae (SLM Quote - Cramer on SLM - Stock Picks) and Bank of America (BAC Quote - Cramer on BAC - Stock Picks) in favor of more creative ways to finance their education . (Yearly expenses for a public university, including room and board and financial aid, have risen to $9,980 a year from $7,650 according to the College Board, a non-profit examination board. The average net cost for a private college is $23,000, up from $18,050.)

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