Cosponsors Legislation to Prevent Dramatic Stafford Loan Interest Rate Increase

JAMESTOWN, NY -- Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) announced that he has joined as a cosponsor of H.R. 3826, which would extend the reduced interest rate for subsidized Stafford student loans. A previously legislated cut to these interest rates is set to expire in July 2012.

“There are too many young people in Western New York who find themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt,” said Congressman Higgins. “Now, more than ever, it is our responsibility to ensure that finances never get in the way of a student’s ability to receive an education.”

In 2007, Congressman Higgins joined his colleagues in Congress in passing the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which was eventually signed into law. This legislation included a provision which lowered subsidized Stafford student loan rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over a four-year period through the 2011-2012 academic year.

Congressman Higgins recently voted to keep subsidized Stafford loan interest rates low by voting in favor of the Democratic Motion to Recommit on H.R. 2117, the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act. This Motion to Recommit, which failed along a party line vote, would have prohibited regulation under the provisions set forth in H.R. 2117 during a period when the interest rate for subsidized Stafford Loans was higher than 3.4 percent.