Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., has just introduced the Student Loan Affordability Act, which would freeze interest rates on Stafford Loans at its current number, 3.4 percent. This measure is intended to combat the doubling of student loan interest rates - from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent - that would otherwise occur on July 1. The burden of student debt is a serious issue, and we are grateful that our senator is taking action, not just a passive interest, in the problem. We strongly support this bill, as the current cost of education has crippling effects not just on current college students, but also on society at large.
The cost of a college education has increased by a staggering 559 percent since 1985, and last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that student debt has surpassed $1 trillion, with more than 37 million graduates and dropouts in debt due to their loans. If this act does not pass and Stafford Loan rates double, it will cost the average borrower another $2,800 over the next decade, "while someone who maxed out the available subsidized loans would owe an additional $5,000," according to Rich Williams, the higher education advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. It is estimated that this change would affect more than 7 million low- and middle-income college students across the nation. And crippling student debt haunts many graduates for a lifetime - the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that borrowers over 50 years old still owe $135 billion in student loans.
Considering the scope and intensity of this problem, we find it perplexing why so little has been done to address it. Some Democratic politicians have expressed outrage that student loans are barely on the radar while the "Federal Reserve is basically giving banks money for free, Treasury bonds are being sold at 2 percent and mortgage rates are 3.8 percent," Politico reported.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said during his campaign that he is "not going to promise" that his administration would increase federal loans and grants and that students shouldn't "expect the government to forgive the debt that you take on." This blase attitude toward student debt is worrisome and reflects a lack of awareness of the importance of this issue.
As the cost of higher education continues to skyrocket, a 3.4 percent difference in the student loan interest rate could easily mean the difference between a college degree and a missed opportunity. Education is not just as an opportunity that everyone deserves - it is also a necessity in this day and age for people to successfully participate in the market and the public sphere.
The planned 100 percent increase in student loan rates is unacceptable, and we hope that other members of Congress will join with Reed in taking action before it takes effect. Preventing student loan interest rates from increasing is the bare minimum that our government can do to prevent education from becoming more of a privilege than it already is.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
