You may have heard that recently-adopted policies are going to make it harder for students with college loans. Apparently, over the weekend, it became official.
Students across the nation will have to pay thousands more in college loans beginning Saturday, according to a series of reports released [Friday] by the research arm of the Campaign for America's Future. College students and graduates will be pushed deeper into debt as interest rates on Stafford loans -- the basic student loan -- rise from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent on old loans and to 6.8 percent on new loans at the end of this week.
Parents that take out PLUS loans to help their children pay for an undergraduate education also face rising interest rates. This Saturday, rates on PLUS loans will increase from 6.1 percent to nearly 8 percent for existing loans and to 8.5 percent on new loans, costing the average parent nationally an extra $3,000 and $3,953 respectively.
It's perfect timing, too, in light of the fact that tuition costs have increased 40% since Bush took office.
No wonder the president has been lying about student loans for months.
-- Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report
