Political Quotes

“I am pleased to join my colleagues from Connecticut and from New York and others who have been on the floor today to talk about the importance of addressing the--of avoiding, I guess I should say, the potential for the student loan interest rates to rise at the end of June. The fact is that the U.S. workforce needs to have the skills to compete in the global economy, and that means making sure college is affordable because so many of the new jobs that are being created require higher education. The reality is that students today face ever-growing tuition rates, and student loans are a critical bridge for them to cover these costs. But unless we act, over 7 million students--38,000 in my State of New Hampshire alone--who rely on subsidized Stafford student loans will see an increase in their student debt when they graduate. This is a particular problem for students in New Hampshire because our students have the highest average student debt in the Nation. They are graduating with just over $31,000 in debt per student. Not only do they have the highest average debt, but 74 percent of our college students are in debt, and that is the second largest number in the country. So we have the highest average debt and the second highest number of students graduating with debt.…”