Hoyer Meets with University of Maryland and Bowie State University Students to Discuss College Affordability
WASHINGTON, DC – This afternoon, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) met with students from the University of Maryland and Bowie State University to discuss the need to take action after student loan interest rates doubled from 3.4% to 6.8% yesterday.
"I am deeply disappointed that Congress failed to take action to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling from 3.4% to 6.8% by the July 1st deadline," stated Congressman Hoyer. "In order to build a competitive workforce here in Maryland and throughout the country, we must ensure that our students and their families can afford to pursue higher education. Unfortunately, legislation passed by House Republicans would make higher education more expensive, and the House did not have an opportunity to vote on a short-term bill to freeze rates until a compromise could be reached. I hope that when Congress returns from the July 4th district work period, we can work together on a bipartisan solution to keep rates low. I thank these outstanding students for joining me today for this discussion and for sharing their stories."
According to the Center for American Progress, there are 105,027 federally-subsidized Stafford Loan borrowers in Maryland alone, and borrowers already have an average debt of $28,330. Failure to reach an agreement to keep interest rates low could mean students could pay up to $1,000 more each year they are in school.