Her plan: come to America, study International Relations at Lincoln University, then move on to graduate school to pursue a master's in Public Administration.

In 2008, she began attending New York University in hopes of obtaining a degree that would allow her to manage a non-governmental organization that protects abused children in the Niger Delta region in West Africa.

There, life expectancy is 47 years and just over half the population has access to potable water and appropriate sanitation; infant mortality is 97.1 deaths per 1000 live births.

But, as it is now, Salako's plans are in jeopardy.

Two months ago, CitiGroup discontinued its Citi-Assist loan to foreign students like Salako. Students across the country who depend heavily on these loans to offset the costs of undergraduate and graduate education have been and are still being affected by this change.

Salako, who has been living in the United States for the past six years, migrated to the U.S. not to become a burden on the economy, but to pursue an education that she could not have been afforded in Nigeria.

Although tertiary education has expanded dramatically, the educational system has been described as "dysfunctional," largely due to decaying institutional infrastructure and governmental corruption. Over thirty percent of the population is labeled illiterate.

As a student at NYU's Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Salako depended on the Citi-Assist loan for her entire tuition of $30,000, keeping her afloat at one of the most expensive graduate programs in the country.

It isn't only NYU's foreign students who are suffering.

While this change began in October 2008, CitiGroup says that all Citi-Assist loans processed before the termination will be honored by CitiBank.

Unlike most loan programs, Citi-Assist allowed foreign students to take out a loan without a co-signer.

According to Mark Rogers, spokesman for CitiGroup, "frozen credit markets have forced lenders to raise standards of creditworthiness. International students typically have a higher probability of defaulting on their loans than American students."

Most likely, however, they will leave school and return to their native country, which was almost the case for Eyiwunmi.

"Over the summer I faced the decision of returning to my home country since I had little to no option. The only other option was to get a co-signer who is a US citizen or a green card holder and I did not have such a person that would be willing to do this," said Salako, who felt helpless by the sudden dissolution of her loan  and, consequently, her dream in international non-profit management.

By the end of August, her parents were able to raise enough money for a semester's worth of classes and living expenses.

But, she has no surety for the spring semester

With a graduation date projected for 2010, Salako has 14 credits left to complete. If she is unable to raise the funds this time around, then she may be left with no choice but to return to Nigeria without her degree.

While Salako may have earned her keep for the next three months, hundreds of students from Nigeria to Japan have had to pack their bags without a promise to return to the country that held their dreams of a secure future and a sheet of paper that could assist them in revolutionizing their own nations.