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Pocan Statement on Student Loan Vote

July 31, 2013

WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) today released the following statement after voting against a bill that would cap student loan interest rates at 8.25%, higher than the current unsustainable cap of 6.8%, and almost five points higher than the 3.4% cap that was in place before July 1st.

“The college affordability crisis currently ravaging our students and our country’s future economic prosperity requires a long-term solution that preserves the dream of a college diploma for our nation’s young people. The bill we voted on today is unfortunately not that solution. While the legislation provides immediate relief to students over the next few years, it has the potential to exacerbate the problem in the time to follow and increase student loan rates even higher than their current excessive rate.

“The government should not be in the business of profiting off students. We need to focus on commonsense ideas—such as allowing student loan holders to refinance their student loans--that make college as affordable as possible. As the representative for nearly 60,000 college students in south central Wisconsin, I will continue to fight to ensure every young person in Wisconsin can access a quality higher education without the fear of sky-high college costs or unbearable college debt.”

Pocan co-sponsored legislation, with 171 co-sponsors, in the House that would have frozen student loan interest rates for federally subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for two years.

Issues:Education