Statement of U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek Supporting Legislation to Cut Interest Rates on Student Loans

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Kendrick B. Meek released the following statement supporting legislation to cut interest rates on federal need-based student loans in half over five years.  The House passed the bill, the College Student Relief Act (H.R. 5) by a vote of 356 to 71.

“A college education means a chance to achieve the American dream of a good paying job and home ownership for millions of young people.  It should lead to personal success, not financial distress.

“But as the President and the Republican Congress have forced the federal government ever more deeply into deficit spending, federal aid to education has been cut.  The result is that tuition and fees at four year public colleges and universities have risen 41 percent, after inflation, since 2001 – putting college out-of-reach for many students.

“Interest rates on student loans have also risen, forcing many students to forgo a college education all together.  In just one example, at Florida Memorial University in my Congressional District, seventy percent of students receive subsidized student loans that cover an average of just half of their tuition costs.

“Our bill will help cut the cost of college by cutting interest rates in half over the next five years on college loans for undergraduate students with subsidized loans.  It lowers the cost of getting a college education and means that graduates can pay off their loans sooner, at less cost, and get on with their lives sooner.

“The fact that 124 Republicans voted with Democrats shows that this is a bipartisan bill that likely could have been passed years ago, if the Republican leadership had only allowed it to come up for a vote.

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