More than 200 students from all 50 states came together on Capitol Hill Wednesday to discuss the student loan debt crisis with members of the Senate in an event organized by the non-profit organization Campus Progress.
The students were hoping that by coming together in a bipartisan fashion it would force the two parties to come to a consensus on how to prevent the interest rates for federal student loans from doubling on July 1.
Abraham White, a communications spokesperson at the progressive research and advocacy organization, said that he was extremely encouraged by the bipartisan energy that came out of the event.
“Getting this conversation going and everyone coming to the table is something we are really excited about,” White said.
Some of the participants in Wednesday morning’s session even gave props to House Republicans for passing a bill to stop the interest rates from doubling two weeks ago, however others didn’t think the bill went far enough to prevent student loan interest rates from increasing in the future.
David Tjaden, the student program chair for the National Education Association, told Red Alert Politics that he was pleased with the House GOP’s initiative on the issue but that the cap they placed on the interest rates wasn’t as low as he would have liked.
“Number one, we want to see a plan that doesn’t see the government making money and paying down the deficit on the backs of students trying to go to school,” Tjaden said, adding that he was wary of the fact that the House’s bill allows interest rates to fluctuate based on the economy.
The president made it clear in his press conference Friday that he doesn’t support the House GOP’s plan to allow interest rates to fluctuate based on the economy, despite the fact that he put forth a similar proposal for Social Security and Medicare reform in his fiscal year 2014 budget.
“The differences between the House plan and the president’s are small, and there’s no reason they cannot be overcome quickly,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement Friday.
The Senate is expected to take up the issue of student loan interest rates on Thursday. Robert Fisher, a junior at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, hopes that the Senate’s decision will provide more time for additional discussions on the matter.
“We want to have some sort of structure and security or an idea of our student loans,” the 19-year-old said.
