Friday, July 5, 2013

The Educated Reporter: Follow-Up Friday: Student Loan Interest Rate Doubles

The Educated Reporter: Follow-Up Friday: Student Loan Interest Rate Doubles:

Follow-Up Friday: Student Loan Interest Rate Doubles



The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann is challenging what he calls the "conspiracy theory" being floated by some Republicans regarding the doubling of the interest rate on a key federal student loan, which took effect July 1. Weissmann says there's an attempt to turn younger voters against Democrats by inaccurately blaming the rate hike on the need to fund Obamacare.

From Weissmann's post:
This is an absurd vision of recent history that many Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have embraced. It conveniently ignores what the student loan reforms included in the health care bill actually accomplished: Saving billions by ending subsidies to big banks.
For more on other options for dealing with student loan debt, the check out the recent EWA webinar explaining the new federal "Pay as You Earn" income-based repayment program. The New York Times reported this week that Oregon is also