Interest rates for most Federal college loans to double, unless Congress acts by June

Effective July 1, the interest rates for new federally subsidized Stafford loans are scheduled to double - from the current 3.4% to 6.8%. President Obama has asked Congress to act to prevent this increase from occurring, but the odds are against it. Seven million students receive subsidized Stafford loans a year.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/138273284.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/federal-student-loans-rate-set-184200237.html

Excerpt from yahoo/CNN Money article:

"Raising student loan rates will prove costly, said Lauren Asher, president of the Project on Student Debt. Someone who graduates with $23,000 in debt will pay an additional $4,600 in interest over 10 years.

Two-thirds of college seniors graduating in 2010 had student loan debt, and the average balance was more than $25,000, the project found."

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A year later, the federal Perkins loan program will completely expire, and the Congress has not acted to replace it, as was requested by the US Dept. of Education.