KENNESAW, Ga. -- Kyle Pavlicek's rent is due, but the Kennesaw State student says as of now, he can't pay it.

"I got a letter in my email. It said I had to go to the Financial Aid office because the money for housing has not come in yet. I'm very stressed," he said Thursday. Pavlicek is one of 1,500 students who got a student loan from EdAmerica, one the nation's largest student loan providers. EdAmerica notified students recently their disbursements scheduled to be sent out August 18th were being delayed until at least September 5th.

Kennesaw State Financial Aid Director Ron Day says the mortgage loan crisis has spilled over into the student loan industry. "The lending community is having problems with liquidity; basically they don't have the money to pay the loads they have on the books and they can't make new loans," he said.

"We have students who can't pay rent, buy books or pay travel expenses in the case of out of state students," Day added. To help them out, KSU has asked faculty and staff to donate to the school's food pantry, known as Feed the Future. The pantry's director says plenty of donations have poured in for hungry students. "We bring them back here and give them bags and let them shop the pantry," she said. Feed the Future is located in KSU's Student Health Center.

Students can also meet with social worker Tao Bartleson. "They basically plan their whole life around that financial aid coming in and paying for college. For that to be delayed has made their anxiety go up," said Bartleson. KSU is also giving students more time to pay tuition, as well as vouchers for books and housing help. The loans are guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education, and Day said he expects that department to intervene if the funds are not disbursed by EdAmerica soon.

Source:http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=120435&catid=3