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Sen. Shaheen Calls For Action To Prevent Student Loan Rate Hike

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.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.

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