As if the thought of graduating isn’t stressful enough, add thoughts of the years of loan payments that you’ll be facing after graduation. This idea is not that abnormal for many college students today. Recently, though, stress may come more from the interest rates that the loans incur rather than from the loans themselves.
Currently, federally subsidized loans have a 3.4 percent interest rate. That established rate was determined in 2006 and was put in place for six years. Time is up and unless Congress acts before the end of June, those rates will double. Legislation must decide to extend the lower rate or the rate will be 6.8 percent in less than three months.
For those of us that have taken out loans, those numbers are daunting. College tuition rose 9 percent last year, according to U.S. Representative Peter Welch. How are we supposed to combat those tuition costs if loans become impossible to afford as well?
My fellow collegiates, I encourage you to educate yourselves on these issues, if you haven’t already, and find ways to combat these raises! This change could greatly affect countless future collegiates, as well as ourselves.
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