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January 19, 2007 > Opinion > Congress helps college students with loan relief

Congress helps college students with loan relief

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

Given a lack of monetary influence, college students are an oft-ignored demographic in the policy making process. That is why we are so glad to see that one of the 110th Congress’ first moves was a bipartisan supported bill to lower interest rates on need-based student loans.

H.R. 5, The College Student Relief Act of 2007, will lower interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next 5 years. Once fully implemented, this step will save the average borrower — students who receive $13,800 in need-based loans — $4,420. At a time when tuition and fees are skyrocketing at Rice and across the country, we should support any step that will ensure students who want to go to college can go to college.

This interest reduction is not free — it has an expected cost of $5.9 billion. But most of the cost will be recouped by a slight reduction in the guaranteed rate that the top 1 percent of private lenders receive on federal loans — a step that financial analysts at Citigroup have deemed “manageable.”

Unfortunately, Rice’s own representative, John Culberson, was one of only 71 representatives to vote against the bill.So when Culberson comes to campus for a town hall meeting Feb. 22, let’s urge him to represent Rice by helping Congress expand Pell Grant scholarships. After all, today’s college students are tomorrow’s campaign contributors.

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