Tallahassee Community College has more than 14,000 students. About five to six thousand of them depend on loans to get a quality education.
But many are finding out that education is not valued as much by banks.

Some lenders say community college students attend inexpensive schools, have shorter loan periods and are less likely to get good jobs.
For lenders that adds up to higher default rates.

"That to me sounds like a line, like a run around. I mean I feel like the university students wouldn't be able to pay it back because you're paying...I think you're paying higher fees at a university," said TCC student Ashley Jacques.

CitiBank, SunTrust and Chase Manhattan are no longer giving loans to TCC students. For TCC's Financial Aid Director Bill Spiers the practice is irrational since 80 percent of TCC students go on to earn a bachelors degree. But Spiers says aside from unreasonable, it's also unfair.

"Schools are not allowed to tell students who they can borrow from. Why should a lender be able to tell a student which school they should go to?" asked Spiers.

Spiers says students now have to find other lenders. And multiple lenders mean multiple payments.

"Which forces a student whether it's in their best interest or not to consolidate the loans. When they consolidate the loans they usually lose any benefits associated with the loan," said Spiers.

Spiers says to solve this problem Congress must provide access to lower interest funds.