U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen is calling for congressional action to prevent federal student rates from doubling next month.
If Congress does nothing, interest rates on subsidized Stafford Loans will increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1.
At a roundtable discussion at Granite State College on Friday, Shaheen said Congress has a responsibility to prevent that from happening, especially at a time when Americans owe more on student loans than credit cards.
New Hampshire college graduates already have the highest average student debt loads, at about $31,400 per student.
Shaheen says the higher interest rates will add an average of $1,000 of debt to approximately 7.2 million students.