Students Protest Interest Rate Hike on Loans

UCSB – Paying for college or university may soon cost more. Students across the country are used to seeing tuition increases, but now it may cost more to payback their loans.Here is the issue for students, the interest rate on Stafford Student Loans, a form of federal financial aid, is set to double on July 1st. It doesn’t affect every student, or every loan, but according to the Department of Education more than seven million undergraduate students may soon find it a lot harder to pay for school.According to estimates, the rate hike will affect more than 7,000 students at UCSB and more than 500,000 in California.On Wednesday, a few dozen students rallied on campus with Representative Lois Capps on hand, hoping to make their voices heard in Washington, D.C.”Paying for college has been a lot of people’s determining factor not only if they can go to college but where,” said Sydney Bennet. “We cannot, we cannot sacrifice the future of our students,” said Sophia Armen. “This is an issue we need to address now and in the present,” said Angela Lau.The rates on Stafford Student Loans are set to double from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1st, unless politicians take action in Washington, D.C. Rep. Capps has joined 45 of her colleagues in co-sponsoring legislation to stop the rate hike. “This is not the time we should be doing this to our future workforce, the students of today,” said Rep. Capps.Republicans and Democrats actually agree that the rates should stay put, but have different plans to off-set the cost. Republicans want to cut money from President Obama’s healthcare overhaul. While, Democrats want to increase some payroll taxes on top earners and owners of some privately help corporations.KEY News Reporter Scott Hurst has the story.