New Interest Rates on Federal Student Loans - Again
On
August 9, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of
2013, which changes the formula for determining federal student loan interest
rates. The law comes after months of partisan bickering and uncertainty in the
student loan arena, which culminated with the rate on subsidized Stafford Loans
doubling to 6.8% on July 1. The new legislation introduces a new market-based
system that ties federal student loan interest rates to the government's
borrowing costs. The legislation will apply retroactively to student loans that
originated July 1.
