ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Eric Hahn thought his financial situation was set after he was approved for a private student loan with an 8 percent interest rate to supplement his federal education loans. 

Eric Hahn, 21, estimates he will be in debt for the next five to seven years for his undergraduate tuition. 

Just a few weeks later, Hahn, 21, was forced to cash in his savings and investments so he could make his rent and tuition after finding out that the lender, MyRichUncle.com, had suspended its private student loan program. 

"Due to continued disruptions in the capital markets, combined with the continued demand we have experienced this year, we are reaching funding capacity limits," a message on his cell phone said, mimicking a statement on the company's Web site. 

The sudden news left Hahn, a senior-year finance major, scrambling to find additional funding after maxing out his borrowing options from the federal government. Eventually, the country's leading student loan provider, Sallie Mae, approved him for a private loan at 12 percent. 

After he graduates, Hahn estimates it will take him anywhere from five to seven years to repay about $30,000 he will have borrowed by then. 

"Money isn't cheap," said Hahn, who transferred to Georgia State University in Atlanta from the University of Connecticut last year because the tuition was less expensive. "The process is time-consuming, and there's also the stress of having to liquidate my investments and wonder where I'm going to find money." 

About 8 percent of student borrowers rely on private loans, which tend to be costlier and stricter than federal loans, said Robert Shierman, executive director of the Institute for College Access and Success. In doing so, Hahn and others like him are getting a crash course in market volatility and its effects on the consumer's ability to find money. Watch how the current economic troubles affect consumers » 
what title does he hold there?
executive director of the Institute for College Access and Success