Students at the University of Idaho will pay 6.1 percent more for their education next year, but the interest piling up from student loans is more concerning.
The trend of charging students more for higher education has not been unnoticed by national leaders, but their solutions are not suitable for the long road ahead.
Currently sitting at 3.4 percent, the interest rate for undergraduate subsidized Stafford loans is set to double to 6.8 percent July 1, a spike President Barack Obama deemed unacceptable.
Obama is pushing lawmakers to maintain the current rates. Republican candidate Mitt Romney said Monday he agrees with Obama’s viewpoint and federal student loan interest rates need to stay where they are, or go down.
Although the headlines will read candidates from opposing parties took the same stance on an issue, the larger concern for students remains that financial resources for higher education are flawed past the point of interest rates.
The average student debt upon graduation was $25,250 for the class of 2011, according to a CNN report. Many loaners require repayment within six months of graduation, making it even more difficult for students to pay for higher education.
Adjusting interest rates is a small step toward coping with the cost of higher education and repayment of loans. If more federal grants were available to a larger demographic of students, it might lessen the strain that forces students to rely on private loans. Some students pay for college entirely out of their own pockets and the FAFSA should take a more realistic look at how students are going to finance their educations — not assuming there will be financial contributions from family could be a good start.
Students also need to be educated about smart decisions in financing their education. Just because a loan or grant shows up on VandalWeb, doesn’t mean it is in their best interest to accept it. The Vandal Challenge Leadership Conference is an opportunity UI provides for high school students to help them find ways to finance their college education. More workshops, like Vandal Challenge should be provided to help all students make fiscally responsible decisions and curb future debt.
Students who make the decision to attend a higher education institution are being punished for their decision by the burden of student loans. Keeping interest rates low should be a priority of our lawmakers, but it cannot stop there.
Access to more resources that will help students pay for school needs to be in the front of state and national legislators’ minds. Raising interest rates would be detrimental to new graduates, but continuing to force students into the flawed system will only lead to more students walking across the stage to accept their degree stalked by a cloud of debt.
— MM