STATEMENT: Campus Progress’s Anne Johnson on Student Loan Rate Senate Deal

Party Leaders Reach Deal to Keep Interest Rate on Stafford Loans Steady

June 27, 2012

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Contact: Madeline Meth
Phone: 202.741.6277
Email: mmeth@americanprogress.org

Washington, D.C. — Responding to months of activism by students and higher education advocates, press reports indicate that Senate leaders have reached a deal to prevent the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans from doubling on July 1 for 7.4 million students.

Anne Johnson, Director of Campus Progress, released the following statement:

With this important vote, millions of students will be able to return to school knowing that they will be able to afford their education. Thanks to the leadership of President Barack Obama and Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Jack Reed (D-RI), along with the thousands of student activists who made their voices heard, both parties have come together to find a bipartisan solution that prioritizes college affordability and helps more than 7 million students.

This is a huge victory for students, who faced a $1,000 hike if Congress failed to act. Higher education is a proven pathway to success and keeping it affordable and accessible for every interested American is crucial to strengthening the middle class and cultivating long-term economic growth.

Campus Progress has led the way in raising students’ voices. We coordinated in-state lobby visits, made phone calls, gathered petition signatures, sent students to meetings at the White House with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, held press conferences, released reports on Stafford loans, and organized a massive Student Debt Lobby Day on Capitol Hill where hundreds of students and young people met with their senators and called on them to take action.

The following experts are available to comment:

• Anne Johnson, Director of Campus Progress
• Tobin Van Ostern, Advocacy and Communications Manager
• Julie Margetta Morgan, Associate Director, Postsecondary Education

See also:

• How a Stafford Increase Would Impact Your State by Campus Progress, Center for American Progress, USA Action
• The Cost of College Will Soar if Interest Rates Allowed to Double by Tobin Van Osten, Jennifer Mishory, Rory O’Sullivan

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