Student loan bill approved by Congress, sent to White House
Graduating students applaud as US President Barack Obama speaks during commencement ceremonies at Barnard College May 14, 2012 in New York City. On May 22, 2012, a group of bipartisan senators proposed easing visa limits for highly skilled foreign students and immigrant entrepreneurs who could stay and create jobs in America.
The United States House of Representatives has approved a bill that ends fixed interest rates for student loans.
The measure passed 392-31.
The bill has been sent to President Barack Obama for his approval, and he is expected to sign the legislation into law.
If he does, interest rates on government-sponsored student loans will be pegged to the yield on the 10-year Treasury note and will go up and down as the economy improves or slows down. Loans will be locked in for one year at a time.
The interest rate for undergraduate Stafford borrowers will be 2.05 percentage points higher than the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, Bloomberg News reported. Graduate students will be charged interest of 3.6 percentage points more than the 10-year Treasury yield and parents will pay interest of 4.6 percentage points above the 10-year Treasury yield.
More from GlobalPost: Have student loans? What the rate hike means for you
Interest rates will be capped at 8.25 percent for undergraduates, 9.5 percent for graduate students and 10.5 percent for parents.
The legislation would have an immediate impact on student borrowers, who saw loan rates double to 6.8 percent on July 1.
Undergraduates’ loans for the 2013-14 school year will come with a 3.9 percent interest rate for both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Graduate students will pay 5.4 percent interest, and parents will borrow at 6.4 percent.
While the legislation saves students from an interest rate hike now, some consumer advocates worry that it will result in ugly interest rates down the road.
"The bottom line is that students will pay more under this bill than if Congress did nothing, and low rates will soon give way to rates that are even higher than the 6.8 percent rate that Congress is trying to avoid," Chris Lindstrom, higher education program director for the consumer group US PIRG, told the Associated Press.