Credit is the magic word right now, as markets freeze, making it difficult to get a loan.

The hard economic times were on students minds at the Richland School District One College Fair on Thursday.

Students were shopping for higher education, although well aware financing that education may be tougher these days.

Keenan High School Junior Brittaney Chatman is hoping to finance her education through grants and scholarships.

"I know that our economic system is in a very low point in time right now, so I do get concerned about that at times,” Chatman said.

Colleges and university admissions counselors from across the country say it shouldn’t be too difficult for Chatman to get a loan if she needs one because the credit crisis is not affecting most student loans yet.

"If the economy stays bad another couple of years then it may be an issue, but we really don't think there's a problem right now,” Rick Lamberson with Savannah State University said.

Bob Godfrey from University of South Carolina’s Financial Aid office says most students receiving federally subsidized loans won’t be affected by the freezing credit markets. Those loans are backed by the federal government and will likely be there. Godfrey says students getting private student loans are feeling the pinch.

"Last year we did over 2,000 of those types of loans. They're called private loans. This year we've already seen a reduction. We're down to about 1,500,” Godfrey said.

He says lenders are tightening their belts and raising the bar for students to qualify. In some cases lenders are requiring a co-signer.

"Some of the lenders that our students do use are starting to increase the interest rates on those private loans quite significantly,” Godfrey said.

He says the majority of student aid programs are fully funded and parents shouldn’t worry because the private student loans only make up a small portion of student loan programs.