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Rep. Foster Votes Against Legislation To Raise Student Loan Rates

May 23, 2013

Washington, DC—Today, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) voted against H.R. 1911 the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, which would raise student loan rates. If Congress fails to act before July 1, 2013 student loan rates will double – need-based loans for more than seven million students will jump from 3.4% to 6.8%. According to nonpartisan reports from the Congressional Research Service, H.R. 1911 would increase costs for students even more than letting loan rates double, adding almost $4 billion in interest charges.

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Chart produced by the Committee on Education & The Workforce Democrats

“Providing a high-quality education for our children is one of the most important factors in our country’s long-term economic growth,” said Foster. “We’ve got some of the greatest educational opportunities in the world, but we’ve got to make sure they are financially accessible to our students. This legislation would make a college education prohibitively expensive to millions of young people and cause long term harm to our economy.”

Reports have shown that growing student debt is having negative effects on the economy, including delayed home ownership, H.R. 1911 would add to those trends by increasing student loan debt by almost $4 billion.

Foster is a cosponsor of the Student Loan Relief Act which would extend the current 3.4% interest rate for a period of two years.

Issues:Education