JANESVILLE, Wis. -- The cost of going to college keeps rising, and the current credit crunch isn't helping students trying to further their education.

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Some two-year schools are being abandoned by lenders.

Anyone applying for a loan, for anything, knows getting one isn't as easy as it used to be.

The same goes for college students who are depending on student loans for their future.

Students like Ana Maria Perez simply have fewer options.

"You figure that people would help out college students, and there are just not many people out there anymore. It's amazing to me," said Perez, who is in her second semester at University of Wisconsin-Rock County. "I thought when I got into college, I'd have a lot of help, a lot of people wanting to help me, and I really don't."

Perez is studying nursing, and eventually wants to complete her doctorate in pediatrics.

She already has one student loan, and the market is getting tighter.

"We started seeing the crunch in the student loan market, before this huge blow up of the past week or so," said Linda Osborne, student services coordinator at UW-Rock County.

UW-Rock County prepares a list of 10 lenders for students looking to secure student loans.

Last summer, that list dropped to four.

"We haven't even replaced them, because there isn't anybody else. Some of them have just completely gone out of the student loan business, and some have run screaming from the two-year schools," said Osborne.

UW-Rock County officials said some lenders feel students at two-year colleges don't borrow enough to make it worth the lender's while.

"Nobody wants to loan any money to anybody for anything, but college students are a pretty good bet, because they're going to have the earnings potential when they finish... particularly the ones that are going for the four-year bachelor's degree," said Osborne.

Perez is on her way to her bachelor's degree and beyond, but obtaining her student loans will have taught her a lesson all on its own.

"I think about it all the time. It's difficult to pay them back. My mom, she's got student loans from ten or fifteen years ago that she's still paying on, and I'm worried about that happening to me. And I don't want that to happen to me," said Perez.

Student Services at UW Rock County said, until that list of lenders reaches one, there's no need to panic.

They're also confident that won't happen, saying the college hopes this will be the worst of the student loan credit crunch.