Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) today urged House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put aside politics and work together to stop the looming increase in federally subsidized student loan interest rates. Unless Congress acts, student loan interest rates will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1st.
"Iowa college graduates have the third highest student debt load in the nation and unless Congress acts Iowa students will have thousands of dollars more debt piled on at the end of the month," Braley said. "In our increasingly global economy, good jobs go to those with a good education. Our colleges and universities are avenues of economic opportunity, and we need to keep higher education within reach of everyone who wants to attend.
"That's why I'm urging the House and Senate to put aside partisan point-scoring and get to work to stop the student loan interest rate increase. This shouldn't be another issue that devolves into a down-to-the-wire partisan hostage situation."
In January, Braley introduced a bill that would permanently keep the interest rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans at their current rate of 3.4 percent. More information on the bill can be found at the following link: http://go.usa.gov/dv4
Source: http://braley.house.gov/press-release/braley-urges-house-and-senate-work-together-stop-doubling-student-loan-interest-rates
