The paper citing this is British, what business does a foreign paper have writing about something in the US? I don't think it will get that much harder for graduate students to get loans but it will get harder for undergraduates and those who go to lower tier foreign medical schools. Since GradPlus was introduced it has actually become easier for me to get student loans at my school. The GradPlus loans don't even require a credit check but they do check for serious delinquencies like bankruptcies etc.

For mortgages banks tightened requirements, they now look for a down payment and proof of income, before you could just sign your name, which was a foolish idea, but thats what led to the run up in real estate prices in the US, people who could not really not afford homes were able to afford them. A lot of other Western nations, mostly in Europe have much tougher credit requirements.