President Obama Asks Students to Tell Congress: #DontDoubleMyRate
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/24/president-obama-asks-students-tell-congress-dontdoublemyrate
April 24, 2012
President Obama was at the University of North Carolina this afternoon asking students to tell their members of Congress one thing: Don’t double my rates.
Five years ago, Congress cut the rates on federal student loans in
half. That was a good thing to do. But on July 1st -- that’s a little
over two months from now -- that rate cut expires. And if Congress does
nothing, the interest rates on those loans will double overnight....
And just to give you some sense of perspective -- for each year that
Congress doesn’t act, the average student with these loans will rack up
an additional $1,000 in debt -- an extra thousand dollars. That’s
basically a tax hike for more than 7 million students across America --
more than 160,000 students here in North Carolina alone.
President Obama said that stopping this from happening -- and helping
more young people afford college -- should be a no-brainer because in
today's economy, a college degree is an economic imperative:
In today’s economy, there is no greater predictor of individual
success than a good education. Right now, the unemployment rate for
Americans with a college degree or more is about half the national
average. Their incomes are twice as high as those who don’t have a high
school diploma.
And a college education –whether from a two-year or four-year school –
shouldn’t be something that only some families can afford. A good
education should be within reach for all students willing to work for
it. But tuition and fees at America’s colleges have more than doubled
since today’s college students were born, and students are taking on
more debt to pay for it.
President Obama has worked to help more young people and their families afford a higher education.
His Administration is offering incentives for states, colleges, and
universities to keep costs down. And now he’s calling on Congress to do
their part, and he’s asking students to help make sure they do.
But I’m asking everyone else who’s watching or following online --
call your member of Congress. Email them. Write on their Facebook
page. Tweet them -- we’ve got a hashtag. Here’s the hashtag for you to
tweet them: #dontdoublemyrate. All right? I’m going to repeat that --
the hashtag is #dontdoublemyrate.
... Your voice matters. Stand up. Be heard. Be counted. Tell them now
is not the time to double the interest rate on your student loans. Now
is the time to double down on smart investments that build a strong and
secure middle class. Now is the time to double down on an America that’s
built to last.
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