Effort To Keep Student Loan Interest Rates Low Gains Bipartisan Support

Parents Forum
1

<p>"Yesterday, presumed Republican candidate for President Mitt Romney mentioned his support for extending the current cap on interest rates for federal Stafford student loans, meaning that this is one issue both candidates appear to agree on. The question is, can something be done before those interest rates double in July?</p>

<p>Since 2007, interest rates for Stafford loans have dropped incrementally from 6.8% to their current level of 3.4%, in accordance with regulation intended to make it less of a pain to borrow money to pay for an education.</p>

<p>But the deadline on that interest rate cap is set to expire July 1. If the cap goes away, those rates go back to the original 6.8%.</p>

<p>Student loan debt already stands at nearly $900 billion in the U.S., more than either credit card or auto loan debt. If the interest rate on Stafford loans reverts to 6.8%, that hole could get even larger, as more than 7 million Americans will each be paying thousands of additional dollars." ...</p>

<p>Effort</a> To Keep Student Loan Interest Rates Low Gains Bipartisan Support - The Consumerist</p>

2

<p>I am so glad to see this gaining support of the president and presidential candidate … but neither has the ability to make this happen. Only Congress can take care of this problem. It is high time they get off their duffs, propose some legislation, and pass it.</p>

3

<p>Depressing to think this may become another midnight battle like the budget.</p>

4

<p>Congress do something? Ha! Half of them would prefer to banish public schools!</p>

5

<p>Oh, Congress gets busy when it comes to financial aid. A couple years ago, they came up with the short-lived year-round Pell program … and spent lots of time coming up with really ridiculous rules and regulations associated with it!</p>

6

<p>This is a complete no brainer. I don’t even see how it could become “political.”</p>

7

<p>^^Both Dems and Republicans are going to try to tie other things that they want - and that the other party doesn’t want - to the legislation extending the cap, so I predict some type of showdown on this. Student loan debt is getting lots of press these days, so there is going to be lots of pressure to get it passed, and the question is going to be how much can get added that the other party will be willing to swallow.</p>

8

<p>Time to mobilize, parents, and write to Congress. :)</p>

9

<p>Gosh Suzy, I’m really sorry to hear that. Sometimes it just gets so draining. Making this political is the epitome of what is wrong with washington, if they do so.</p>

10

<p>i don’t understand what the big deal is. the max subsidized Stafford loan amount is $23k. the rate difference 6.8%-3.4%=3.4%. it is less than $800 per year. </p>

<p>$900 billion looks like a daunting number. but it isn’t that much per graduate, especially compared with the average mortgage amount.</p>