"The national credit crisis has swept away $140 million in Iowa student loans, forcing colleges and students to find new ways to secure the money they'll need this coming school year," The Des Moines Register reports. "But the Iowa College Student Aid Commission thinks there is only a slim chance that a student won't be able to find a lender. Iowa Student Loan is far and away the state's largest provider of private loans - loans whose repayment are not guaranteed by a government agency. But Iowa Student Loan's program fell victim early this year to the nationwide freeze in credit markets. After months of negotiations, the company has now cobbled together a pool of 17 banks across the state that have pledged $15 million to a vastly pared down version of those loans."