Senator Udall Calls on Senate to Keep Student Loan Interest Rates Low, Leave Disease-Prevention Funds Untouched

Press Release

With the Senate debating today whether to keep the interest rates on federally subsidized student loans from doubling this summer and raising the cost of attending college for Colorado students, Mark Udall called on his colleagues to underwrite this important student subsidy by closing a tax loophole and not, as some have proposed, by raiding a fund aimed at disease prevention.

"Keeping a college education affordable is one of the best investments we can make not only in today's youth, but also tomorrow's economy. That investment, however, should not come at the expense of disease prevention," Udall said. "Coloradans understand that our long-term investment in tomorrow's economy should not undermine the progress the United States has made in preventing disease. For some of my colleagues to use those funds to leave a tax loophole intact is unacceptable."

S.2343, which Udall supports, includes provisions that pay for the continued support of low Stafford student loan rates by closing a tax loophole that allows the principals of some corporations to avoid paying taxes on their corporate income. The Republican bill, S.2366, would eliminate a disease-prevention fund established in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

If Congress does not act before July 1, the current rate of 3.4 percent on Stafford loans will increase to 6.8 percent, adding as much as $2,800 to the total cost of college. The subsidized Stafford loan program helps many families afford college by giving students a reprieve from paying back the loans while in college or the six-months following graduation.

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