By Cory Weinberg
Washington…The Senate voted on Wednesday to undo the increase in student-loan interest rates that went into effect this month and instead to peg rates to the financial markets, bringing a drawn-out stalemate near an end.
The bill that passed, the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 (S 1241), was branded by its proponents as a compromise, but it still rankled more than a dozen Democrats, who said future college students would pay for the deal once interest rates rose on the 10-year Treasury note.
Interest rates on new undergraduate loans would sit at 3.9 percent this year instead of the 6.8-percent rate put into effect three weeks ago. The legislation is expected to be approved by the House of Representatives before the August recess and signed into law by President Obama, who spoke out in favor of the bill on Wednesday.
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