President Barack Obama spoke surrounded by college students in the White House Rose Garden Friday, warning them of the looming student loan rate hikes.
The subsidized interest rates for the government’s Stafford loans are set to double on July 1 from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent–unless, of course, Congress can come to an agreement before that deadline.
House Republicans have already passed partisan legislation that would tie the student loan rate to the ups and downs of the financial markets, but Obama said that’s not good enough.
“The House of Representatives has already passed a student loan bill, and I’m glad that they took action, but unfortunately their bill does not meet that test,” Obama said. “It fails to lock in low rates for students next year. That is not smart. It eliminates safeguards for lower income families. That is not fair.”
