On July 1st, an extension of student loan interest rate subsidies enacted by Congress in the summer of 2012 expired. In response to Congressional deadlock, Spencer Brannon, Chairman of the Ohio Student Government Association, released the following commentary for publication:
Benjamin Franklin once noted, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Never has that been truer than in the age of the knowledge-based economy, where jobs are scarce and college is only affordable through debt and deprivation.
And yet, on this past Monday, student loan rates doubled for 7.5 million Americans, costing students an average of $1,000 – but up to $4500 — more per loan, because Congress has failed to avert a crisis that it engineered.
Our government cannot continue avoiding the tough choices that must be made to invest in the knowledge and education of our country’s students. Our nation’s aspiring engineers, nurses, and teachers are too important to this country’s future to throw them under the bus for political points and partisan messaging.
Congress must immediately pass a retroactive extension measure for the 3.4% rate. This extension would allow both chambers to begin serious consideration of a long-term solution that addresses reasonable fixed interest rates tied to the 10-year Treasury rate, refinancing mechanisms that are easy to understand and utilize for students and graduates, and linking required monthly payments to a graduate’s income.
7.5 million Americans and their families can’t afford to be treated as pawns in a political chess game. They are counting on Congress to do its job and fix this manufactured crisis before it’s too late.
