Credit is retracting in nearly every sector – home mortgages are dwindling, business loans are down, car loans are non-existent.  But there is one area in which credit has actually expanded: Government-backed, higher education loans. The total number of student loans made in 2008 is up 18.6% from 2007, according to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal.  Home mortgages, on the other hand, were down 38%. At the same time that federal lending has increased, private education loans have shrunk.  Thirty-nine private lenders stopped making private loans, according to the WSJ.  The private loan sector, which accounts for one-fifth of total education lending, fell by as much as 25% in 2008. The Federal Reserve Bank is trying to kick-start private lending with a $200 billio...