"Among the scores of lenders that have halted student loans because of the credit crisis are several state-based agencies that serve tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of residents," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Despite last month's unprecedented action by Congress and the Bush administration to shore up the student-loan industry, some of those state-authorized organizations say they may not return to the loan business this year, and others are cutting some of the borrower benefits and services they provide. Nine state loan agencies stopped issuing either new federally backed or new private loans this year, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators."