Student Loan Interest Rates to Double on Monday
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Interest rates on new student loans are going to double on Monday after members of Congress failed to agree on a compromise.
Rates on new subsidized Stafford loans will rise from 3.4 to 6.8 percent.
“We’re talking about federal student loans not private student loans,” notes Gerri Detweiler of Credit.com.
“For a lot of borrowers who are having trouble making their payments, that means higher payments and it makes it even more difficult for them to try to re-pay those loans,” she says.
Unless Congress agrees to an extension of the lower rate, about seven million students are expected to pay more. That will amount to thousands of dollars more over the lifetime of their loans.
The debate on extending low-rate loans is expected to continue when lawmakers return from the July 4 recess.
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