"No rise in tuition for state college students; Legislature boosts aid, enabling freeze" by Peter Schworm
| Globe Staff, July 06, 2013
For the first time in more than a decade, undergraduates at all Massachusetts public colleges and universities will see no increase in tuition bills this fall, under a state budget that boosts higher education spending by nearly 17 percent.
The sharp increase in funding follows years of waning state support, which has steadily shifted more of the cost of attending college to students and their families....
The yearly increases forced many students into heavier borrowing....
And who benefits?
In the past five years, the average debt for UMass graduates has risen by more than one-third to more than $28,000, according to university figures.
The budget marks a major legislative breakthrough for the public universities, which have fought an uphill battle on Beacon Hill in recent years, and a growing recognition of the importance of the system to the state’s economy....
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As for the rest of you kids in the U.S.:
"Student loan rate set to double; Deal still possible before students will feel impact" by Tracy Jan | Globe Staff, June 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — The interest rate on a federal loan available to low-income students is scheduled to double on Monday to 6.8 percent because Congress was unable to agree on a long-term fix or temporary extension before adjourning for the holiday recess.
The rate hike on federally subsidized Stafford loans — the largest federal student aid program — has been looming for a year since Congress struck a temporary deal amid the presidential race to keep rates at 3.4 percent until July 1.
The increase will affect more than 7 million students receiving new loans for the upcoming school year.
Without a congressional fix, the average student would end up paying an extra $25 per month, or up to $3,000 more over the life of the loan.
A compromise could be reached before students are affected because most loans will not be disbursed until the fall, buying Congress more time. The Senate is expected to vote on July 10 whether to consider a Democratic bill that would extend the current rate for one more year, with any future agreement to be retroactive to July 1.
They are the ones who set this up because they thought it would be a good 2012 campaign issue to rally the youth. Why they didn't make it a flat rate for good is beyond me.
But the deepening partisan divisions that have disabled Washington and made even a short-term solution by Monday’s deadline impossible give some higher education leaders little hope.
But there is plenty of bipartisanship when it comes to war budgets, tyrannical surveillance, tax loot to favored corporate interests, and whatever Israel wants.
“Unfortunately the underlying political dynamics coupled with the loss of urgency because we will have passed the deadline suggests we may not see any sort of an agreement,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education. “The irony is nobody wants interest rates to double, but it increasingly appears inevitable.”
The inability of lawmakers to address an issue on which President Obama campaigned heavily has unleashed a new round of finger-pointing by Democrats and Republicans, with both sides urging their constituents to petition their elected officials to settle on a solution....
House Republicans instead passed a bill last month, and it stood no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate....
We are paying them for this?
This week a bipartisan group of senators offered a new plan that would tie interest rates to the markets but it was squashed by Democratic leadership because it did not have a cap. Earlier this month, a Democratic Senate bill had proposed extending the current rate for two years but it fell short of the 60 votes required to defeat a Republican filibuster.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who also campaigned on lowering student loan debt, had pushed for tying the student interest rate to what big banks pay to the Federal Reserve and lowering loan rates to 0.75 for one year. But Warren’s bill, her first piece of standalone legislation, never made it to the Senate floor.
Looks like a GOOD DEAL to ME!
“We should not be making money off the backs of our students,” said Warren, referring to the $51 billion in revenue the federal government receives from the student loan program by charging more in interest than it costs to borrow the money.
Oh, SHE KNOWS about the SCAM from your "friend" Obama, kids!
Warren and Representative John Tierney, a Salem Democrat who serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, recently discussed the issue with students at Northeastern University and encouraged them to express their concerns to public officials in Washington....
I wish I could tell you that made a difference, kids.
Interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans used to vary from year to year, depending on how much it cost the federal government to borrow the money. But in 2006, in an effort to win the House majority, Democrats campaigned on promising to cut the interest rate from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. Upon winning control of the House, Democrats, with Republican support, gradually lowered the rate until it reached 3.4 percent in 2011.
Lacking the political pressure of an impending election and with widespread disagreement over the best way to set interest rates, Congress has been unable to reach a deal....
Because they didn't want to reach a deal, and who benefited?
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Related: College Students Need Credit Default Swaps
