"As the credit crunch deepens, it's putting more private student loan companies out of business and leaving fewer students able to qualify," CNBC reports. "Three private student loan companies recently suspended lending: College Loan Corp., My Rich Uncle and Campus Door, a subsidy of Lehman Brothers. It’s now virtually impossible for students to get loans without a cosigner, says Christopher Penn, chief technical officer at the Student Loan Network, a student loan and information Web site. What’s more, credit score requirements have increased. In previous years, he says a credit score - also known as a FICO score - in the low 600s was enough to get a private student loan; now lenders are looking for a score in the low 700s."