Senators ready to restore lower college loan rates

7/18/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Student-Loans-4

    FILE - In this July 10, 2013 file photo, prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington. The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a bipartisan compromise that heads off a costly increase for returning students. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • WASHINGTON  — A bipartisan group of senators is announcing a deal that lets students dodge higher interest rates when they go back to campus this fall.

    The group told reporters today they have reached a compromise that lowers the rates for all students who borrow from the federal government. The rates would be linked to financial markets, meaning interest rates would climb in coming years.

    Democrats insisted on and won a cap on how rates could climb.

    Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois says the bill does not give any negotiator everything he sought. But it provides relief for students who were facing interest rates that doubled to 6.8 percent on new loans.

    The House has already passed similar legislation and the differences could be resolved before students return to campus.