There could be test votes this week in the U.S. Senate in the latest showdown over student loan rates. Interest rates on federally-backed student loans are set to double on July 1.
It鈥檚 the same situation as a year ago when the scheduled rate increase was delayed for a year.
University of Texas financial aid counselor Jamie Brown says higher student loan interest rates would delay Texans from joining the full-time work force with college educations.
鈥淎 lot of the times what students will do is they鈥檒l decide to go part-time," Brown says. "Maybe they鈥檒l get a job, so that they can help fund their education, but what this does is this lengthens their time to degree.鈥�
There鈥檚 little if any interest in Congress or the White House to let rates double. What could happen is a plan to tie rates to the return on U.S. Treasury Bonds. There is some agreement on that between the White House and Senate Republicans.
