FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 15, 2013

Contact:
Rae Roca
Rae.roca@younginvincibles.org
202.378.3526

Students Statement in Support of The Student Loan Affordability Act of 2013

This is a statement from Young Invincibles, Campus Progress Action, United States Public Interest Research Group and the United States Student Association

[WASHINGTON, DC] –Today, Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced the Student Loan Affordability Act of 2012, which keeps interest rates affordable for students over the next 2 years. If Congress fails to act by July 1, 2013, interest rates on federal Subsidized Stafford Loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. That would hike the cost of college by $1,000 per student, per loan, for over 7 million students across the country.  The bill pays for extending the current interest rates through 2015 by closing three non-education tax loopholes.

We applaud the senators for their long-standing support of students.  This bill creates a workable solution to keep student loan interest rates low until 2015 while Congress seeks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act and reach a comprehensive solution to the student loan crisis that is good for students.

We continue to advocate for a long-term, comprehensive solution that ensures affordable rates, but if Congress cannot find an acceptable long-term solution before July 1, it must act to prevent Subsidized Stafford loan rates from doubling.

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Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to amplifying the voices of young Americans, aged 18 to 34, and expanding economic opportunity for our generation. Young Invincibles ensures that young Americans are represented in today’s most pressing societal debates through cutting-edge policy research and analysis and innovative campaigns designed to educate, inform and mobilize our generation to change the status quo.