Insight News

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) last week joined Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) as an original cosponsor of H.R. 3826, which fulfills the President’s State of the Union request to ensure that interest rates for undergraduate Stafford Loans do not double this summer. In 2007, Congress temporarily reduced  Stafford Loan interest rates, but these reductions are set to expire on July 1, leading to a doubling of the current 3.4% rate to 6.8%. This legislation makes the current 3.4% rate permanent for subsidized Stafford loans.

Americans now owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt. In 2009, students at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities owed over $25,000 in debt on average, according to the Project on Student Debt.

“The American Dream used to mean something. If you worked hard, you could go to college, get a good-paying job, and not be saddled with excessive debt,” Rep. Ellison said. “With interest rates skyrocketing, that dream is slipping away. If Stafford loan rates doubled, thousands of Minnesotans would be affected. We tell our children to get an education, and we owe it to them to keep that door to the middle class open.”