Almost two weeks after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut the interest rate for student loans in half, bill supporters are waiting for the Senate to approve the bill into law.

The bill — approved by the House on Jan. 17 — would cut the interest rate of federally subsidized student loans from the current 6.8 percent rate to 3.4 percent gradually over the next five years.

Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D- Quincy) voted for the bill to help ease the burden of student loans for the state’s many students, spokesman Mark Forest said.

“In Massachusetts there are over 100,000 students and families that rely on federal assistance,” he said.

Forest said Delahunt is hopeful the Senate will pass the bill and send it to President George W. Bush for approval, though Bush was quoted in a Jan. 23 Boston Globe article as having issued a “negative assessment” of the bill.

Tony Pals, spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said lower interest rates will help independent colleges and universities fill the gap between students’ needs and the amount of aid the federal government offers.

“It’s not only low-income students — it’s the vast majority of students who will end up benefiting,” he said.

Pals said similar groups hope Congress will also increase the amount of the maximum Federal Pell Grant award to $5,100 from just over $4,000. The Pell Grant has not changed in the past five years.

Pals called the Pell Grant the “cornerstone” of the federal government’s financial aid programs for the increasing number of low-income students who can afford college.

“There has been a growing demand for student aid and funding for it has not kept up,” he said.

College of Engineering senior Chris Conley, who has outstanding loans and pays 10 percent of his tuition himself — about $3,000 per year plus $10,000 for housing and food — said the bill will greatly benefit students like him.

“My loan situation isn’t as bad as some other students,” he said.

Conley said he doubted the lower interest rate would significantly change the number of students attending college.

“A three percent drop, while being large, is only a small margin of what you are already paying,” he said.

“On the other hand, the interest rate cut in half is amazing for any [already-enrolled] college student who has loans to pay off,” he said.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 9:14 am and is filed under Student Loans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.