Congress passes bill to lower student loan interest rates
By Daily Bruin
July 31, 2013 4:18 p.m.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate’s recent bipartisan bill that would lower student loan interest rates for this year.
The bill now needs President Barack Obama’s signature to become law.
If Obama approves it, the bill would cut interest rates for undergraduate students from the current 6.8 percent to 3.9 percent for this year. Graduate students would have interest rates of 5.4 percent, while parents and graduate students getting PLUS loans would pay a 6.4 percent rate.
The bill, called the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act, would tie student loan interest rates to the market, which could make interest rates for undergraduates rise to as high as 8.25 percent, depending on how the federal borrowing rate fluctuates.
Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.
