Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I introduce with my colleagues Senators Whitehouse, Sanders, Stabenow, and Franken legislation to stop the student loan interest rate from doubling on July 1 of this year. This is an issue that weighs heavily on many of Rhode Island's students and families who rely on student loans to finance college. Rhode Island's college graduates have the ninth highest student debt total in the Nation, according to a recent study by the Project on Student Debt. In Rhode Island, 67 percent of students graduating from four-year colleges and universities in the 2010 school year had debt averaging over $26,300. Nationwide, the Department of Education estimates that more than 10 million students will borrow subsidized Stafford Loans in fiscal year 2012. Unless we act soon, they will see their interest rates double for the upcoming academic year. In 2007, Congress made a historic investment in higher education by passing the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Included in this law was a provision that reduced the fixed interest rate on Stafford Loans for undergraduate students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over a 4 year period, easing the financial burden on millions of students and their families. This was the right investment to make for our future. Today, education, particularly higher education, is even more essential than ever. In 1980, the gap between the lifetime earnings of a college graduate and a high school graduate was 40 percent.…”