Senate Republicans on Tuesday refused to take up a plan to extend for another year the current 3.4 percent interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for low- and moderate-income students. On a party-line vote, senators voted 52-45 to debate on the bill. The motion needed 60 votes to prevail. Unless Congress acts, the rates will double July 1. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Congress must keep student loan interest rates from doubling this summer for 7.4 million students including 19,000 in Vermont.

"This country's young people are facing extraordinary challenges. They are paying three to four times as much as their parents did for a college education, regardless of whether they attend a private or public school. And when they receive their diplomas, they have no guarantee that they will be able to get a good job to pay off their student loans. The least we can do is keep student loan interest rates at a low rate for another year," Sanders said.

Watch Sen. Sanders speak about the need to prevent loan rates from doubling in July.