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The Congress was urged by our President recently to avoid interest rates on student loans at any cost. He argued that young people are saddled in an unfair manner and the middle class is severely strapped with debt. Even before they start their lives, students are up to their necks in debt. 

July 1st is the deadline when Stafford loan interest rates are set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 per cent. A steamy Washington morning saw both party lawmakers trying to act out as college students. The event is one of a series of campaigns by our President to get the Congress to extend current loan interest rates and try to find a long term solution.

According to President Obama, higher education in any form is one of the paths to the middle class. We all know that our country owes towards student loans than credit cards and this is an alarming situation. He also pointed out that the amount paid by him and his wife towards their student loans in the last decade exceeded the amount they paid towards their mortgage.

He also pointed out that they were among the lucky few in the country who had quite a bit of resources. He also said that our country’s overall economy stands to be hurt as many young people today are unable to buy homes and cars as they are already saddled with huge student loan debts. 

There is a proposal by the White House to link financial markets to the federal student loan interest rates. Last week, a plan was passed by the House controlled by Republicans. According to this plan, each year, based on the financial markets, student loan interest rates will be reset. As there is no provision in this bill to lock in rates, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill. He argued that this House bill is neither fair nor smart.

John Boehner, R-Ohio and House Speaker spoke after the event organized by the President and said that there were very minor differences between Obama’s plan and the House Plan. It is also very easy to sort out this issue and overcome it quickly. He criticized President Obama and said that he was just trying to score political points by resorting to this totally unnecessary campaign stunt.

According to Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, the administration is trying hard to reach a consensus with the Republicans to make the loan plan more student-friendly. According to him, the House Republicans have responded and taken action on this in spite of the differences and this is an encouraging trend.

We can only hope that things are sorted out before the said due date and students are able to heave a sigh of relief. After all, who wants to spend their entire lives paying back their student loans? In the overall interest of our nation, we hope some quick and positive action is taken as early as possible.