On July 1, the interest rate for federal student loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Though there are several scholarship opportunities, few will pay the full amount for those that cannot afford a higher education. The answer has long been in taking out student loans, with the idea being that once you graduate and get a job, you can pay off the loans, with interest.
Last summer the rate of the federal student loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent for all new loans for the fall semester. This brought about a great deal of concern from students and parents across the nation, all worried that higher interest rates could jeopardize the opportunities of many to attend college. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 65 percent of all undergraduates received some sort of financial assistance in any part of their time in school. On Aug. 9, President Barack Obama signed a bill into law, which after being held up in both the House and Senate, due to partisan disagreement over whether to lock in the interest rates over the life of the loan, and the rate at which they were to be set, brought interest rates down to 3.86 percent. In addition, loans that were taken out during the period in which the rates were higher, were retroactively lowered to the new interest rates, according to the Washington Post.
According to Jay Kahn, vice president for finance and planning at KSC, this decision was a good start up for the academic year. “The interest rate remained almost as low as before, which benefits students and helps the school keep making education accessible,” Kahn said.
Here at KSC, the financial aid office handles all merit awards (scholarships), grants and loans. In addition to the federal loans, KSC also offers institutional loans, which is a private loan program with a five percent interest rate, according to the financial aid office’s website. A KSC junior stated that allowing interest rates to increase was “completely irresponsible of them [Congress]. I don’t have any student loans, but I could see how this could cause frustration among those that do. It’s pretty obvious why Congress is so unpopular.” She also added that she did not believe the government should “be in the business of profiting off of a student’s education.”
The Equinox requested an interview with Associate Director of Financial Aid Operations Deborah Nichols. Nichols requested to see questions prior to the interview, which is against The Equinox’s interview policy. In an email she stated, “what we require is that you submit your questions to us so that we have time to do some research [….] Then we will sit down with you.” Thus, The Equinox was unable to complete an interview.
Robert Koolis can contacted at
rkoolis@keene-equinox.com