Tom Harkin: “That is really the vote tomorrow. Are we going to keep 3.4 percent or are we going to allow it to double? That is the…”

“That is really the vote tomorrow. Are we going to keep 3.4 percent or are we going to allow it to double? That is the essence of the vote tomorrow. There are a lot of different ideas floating around here about what to do and how to do this, but in just about every single case, every one of those bills, if you project out over the next couple of years, will raise interest rates higher than 6.8 percent. So, again, that is why extending it for 1 year is so important. The proper place to address this issue is in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. That expires this year. Our committee will be having hearings. We have had some already. We are going to have more this fall. We expect to be able to put together a reauthorization bill for early next year. This is where it belongs. This is where the student loan provision belongs--in the Higher Education Act. Here is why. College affordability is more than just what your loans are costing you; college affordability also has to do with the tuitions being charged by colleges. Why are the tuitions what they are? It also has to do with the lack of transparency from one college to another. What do courses here cost? What do courses there cost? What is built into that cost per course hour, for study hour at this college compared to this other college? There are a lot of other costs that go into college affordability other than just the cost of student loans.…”