This article reports that the credit crisis tying global financing systems into knots has left hundreds of colleges scrambling for cash to pay their bills and to cover the spiking interest on their debts. While it is still unclear to what extent the federal government's new $700-billion bailout package will help unwind the credit tangle, the crisis has exposed weaknesses in policies and management that left some institutions more vulnerable than they should have been. A few have already halted construction projects because of the higher cost of borrowing. Others are considering faculty or pay cuts. Bankers who do business with colleges and academic medical centers note that as a sector over all, higher education is faring better than other industries, even if colleges are finding they're paying more for credit.