Reed, Cicilline Speak Out on Student Loan Debt

Rhode Island’s congressional delegation is getting in on the ground floor of the fight over student loan interest hike. Last week, the House passed a bill that would keep interest rates low but at the expense of health care programs for women.

Sen. Jack Reed, author of a bill that would prevent Stafford Loan interest rates from doubling this summer made these statements last week:

And Congressman David Cicilline will be meeting with Rhode Islanders tomorrow in a “call to action” on the “threat posed by escalating student loan interest rates.”

Here’s the full press release:

U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) will host a call to action along with Rhode Island students, parents, stakeholders, and business leaders to highlight the threat posed by escalating student loan interest rates.  The call to action will take place next Tuesday, May 1^st, at Rhode Island College, Student Union, Room 307, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue, in Providence at 10:00 AM.

With interest rates scheduled to double from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1^st, if Congress does not act, more than 7 million students are expected to incur an additional $6.3 billion in repayment costs for the 2012 – 2013 academic school year.  These increased costs would make college access more difficult and impose an additional financial burden on many young people and families already struggling in a difficult economy.

Congressman Cicilline is a cosponsor of H.R. 3826, which would prevent student interest rates from doubling; he spoke at length about the importance of this issue, along with Congressman Joe Courtney and Congressman Tim Bishop, on the House floor last Wednesday; and, next Tuesday, Cicilline will be joined by a coalition of students, parents, stakeholders, and business to leaders who will urge Rhode Islanders to submit their stories about student loan debt through the Congressman’s website at http://cicilline.house.gov/share-your-story, as part of an ongoing effort to pressure House Republican leadership to take action to protect students from this doubling of interest on their loans.  The freshman Congressman from Rhode Island plans to deliver these submissions to the House Republican leadership later this spring.