Student Loan Interest Rates – Senate Passage - Vote Passed (81-18, 1 Not Voting) Senators moved to end a months-long partisan standoff over federal student loan interest rates by passing a bill July 24 that would tie rates to the government’s cost of borrowing. Sixteen Senate Democrats opposed the plan over concerns that the move to a variable rate would burden students with more debt in a couple of years. The bill would link student loan interest rates to the 10-year Treasury note. Senators adopted a substitute amendment by voice vote that would add 2.05 percentage points to the note rate for both the subsidized and unsubsidized portions of undergraduate loans, 3.6 points for graduate loans and 4.6 points for PLUS loans. As amended, the bill would cap the rates for undergraduate loans at 8.25 percent, graduate loans at 9.5 percent and PLUS loans at 10.5 percent. The current bill differs only slightly from the original version, which also set the interest rates on the 10-year Treasury note and passed the House, 221-198, in May. The House is expected to clear the measure this week. The White House, which threatened to veto the original House bill, backs the Senate compromise. Sen. Al Franken voted YES Sen. Amy Klobuchar voted YES
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 21:39:13 +0000