Student Loan Rates Double
Interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for students doubled Monday from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The rising interest rates affect 7 million students nationally and more than 19,000 Vermonters. Sen. Sanders is fighting to restore the lower rates. “We have a whole generation of young people struggling to make it into the middle class. They can’t afford to go to college in many cases,” Sanders said.
In the short term, Sanders said, Congress must extend the subsidized Stafford student loan program at 3.4 percent. “It will be devastating to families in Vermont and throughout the country to allow those rates to double,” he said. “Long term, at a time when higher education in this country is far more expensive than in any other country, the Higher Education Act must be overhauled so that higher education is affordable for every young person who has the ability and desire to continue their education.”
“Student debt in this country -- which at $1.1 trillion is now more than credit card debt -- is one of the major financial crises our country faces. In Vermont and America, more and more students hesitate to get a higher education because they fear the debt they will be saddled with upon graduation. In Vermont, the average student graduates college with $28,860 in debt, which is more than the national average.”
