"College students in need of private loans to pay for the coming academic year will have to grapple with higher interest rates and tougher credit checks," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Even then, some who have qualified for such loans in the past probably won't this year. That's bad news at a time when grants and loans available under government aid programs have failed to keep up with rising college costs. Concerns over private loans come as the federal government is trying to make sure federally guaranteed loans in its Stafford and PLUS programs will be readily available in the fall. Financial-aid professionals advise students in search of private loans to first make sure that they have exhausted all of their loan possibilities under the federally guaranteed programs, which usually involve lower interest rates."