Political Quotes

“Madam President, in less than 2 months--53 days--the interest rate on subsidized student loans will double to 6.8 percent unless Congress acts. If the rate on subsidized Stafford loans is allowed to rise, as many as 7.4 million students across the Nation, including approximately 43,000 students in Rhode Island, will pay about $1,000 more for each year that they borrow, and that is on top of already significant debt. Some have argued, even while claiming to support keeping interest rates low, that the increase would not be a significant financial burden. Students and families beg to disagree. This would be a significant impediment to completing their education. For younger students starting their education, for those seeking educational opportunities for job transition in midlife, those opportunities would be frustrated also. Right now students and their families are sitting around the kitchen table making tough decisions about next year and whether they can afford to go to school if interest rates double. One Rhode Island mother wrote me: Please do not raise the interest rates on student loans. My son will be in his last year . . . I cannot afford to pay any more and fear that he will not be able to graduate and still have all the loans to pay back. So in addition to frustrating educational advancement, it could leave many students across the country with lots of debt and no degree.…”