"Because of the credit crunch, conventional lenders are making it tough for any but the most creditworthy borrowers to qualify for private college loans," Business Week reports. "Now, a new breed of student lender is trying to get students to return the snubby writing off the Sallie Maes and Citibanks of the world in favor of relying on friends, family, and even perfect strangers to finance their college loans. In recent months, peer-to-peer lending sites such as Prosper and Virgin Money USA have introduced student loans or started marketing existing offerings to families looking for college funds. Others, including startups GreenNote and Fynanz, are focused exclusively on making college loans. Analysts say the sites are benefiting from the confluence of trends - a growing acceptance of peer-to-peer lending and fallout from the credit crunch, which has caused lenders who account for more than 20% of the market for private student loans to stop lending."