Braley introduced bill in January to stop student loan interest rate increase
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) today issued the following statement on President Obama's visit to the University of Iowa:
"President Obama's trip to Iowa today is drawing much-needed attention to the plight of students facing a sharp increase in college costs this summer. Unless Congress acts before July 1st, student loan interest rates will double, adding thousands of dollars to the cost of a college education.
"Iowa college graduates already have the 3rd highest debt load in the county. Piling on more debt just puts Iowans further behind at graduation.
"Congress should put aside their differences and act immediately to stop the July spike in student loan interest rates. Our colleges are avenues of economic opportunity. If we're going to succeed in the global economy, we need to keep higher education affordable for everyone who wants to attend."
Unless Congress takes action, student loan interest rates will double to 6.8 percent on July 1, 2012. Such an increase would mean a student taking out the maximum Stafford student loan of $23,000 over four years of college would pay an additional $11,000 of interest over the 20 year repayment period of the loan.
In January, Braley introduced legislation to permanently keep the interest rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent, their current rate.
More information about Braley's bill can be found at the following link: http://go.usa.gov/yfR
# # #
