"The National Bank, a big lender of student loans in the Quad-City area, has announced it won't be issuing new loans because the third-party, national company it works with to service those loans is pulling out this year," The Daily Journal reports. "'Our hand was forced. If we don't have an outlet to place (the loans), we can't be in the market,' said Wayne Beck, executive vice president. Reductions in federal loan subsidies and the credit market squeeze are having a ripple effect on student loans, making them a less attractive and profitable market for private lenders, said Andrew Davis, executive director of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. The private lenders that do opt to stay in may not be offering the deals they have in the past, such as discount interest rates to those who repay their loans on time, Davis said."