Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues from Connecticut and from New York and others who have been on the floor today to talk about the importance of addressing the--of avoiding, I guess I should say, the potential for the student loan interest rates to rise at the end of June. The fact is that the U.S. workforce needs to have the skills to compete in the global economy, and that means making sure college is affordable because so many of the new jobs that are being created require higher education.

The reality is that students today face ever-growing tuition rates, and student loans are a critical bridge for them to cover these costs. But unless we act, over 7 million students--38,000 in my State of New Hampshire alone--who rely on subsidized Stafford student loans will see an increase in their student debt when they graduate.

This is a particular problem for students in New Hampshire because our students have the highest average student debt in the Nation. They are graduating with just over $31,000 in debt per student. Not only do they have the highest average debt, but 74 percent of our college students are in debt, and that is the second largest number in the country. So we have the highest average debt and the second highest number of students graduating with debt.

Students in New Hampshire and across this country need some relief, and doubling the interest rate is exactly the wrong way we should be going in terms of policies to promote giving every American the opportunity to succeed. We need to encourage our students to go on to higher education, to advanced-degree programs, and to professional schools. Their future employment and our future economy both depend on this.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit with two of our State colleges, Keene State College and Plymouth State University. Everyone I spoke with had stories about the escalating cost of college and concern for rising student loan interest rates. Over the past 24 hours I have heard from hundreds more constituents who are anxious about this.

Now, to be clear, the legislation we are considering would affect current and future students who will receive subsidized Stafford loans starting July 1. The last thing anyone needs in this economic climate is a reason not to pursue their undergraduate or graduate studies.

Meghan Jordan of Amherst is a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire. She told the Union Leader newspaper that student loan debt has become a constant concern for her. Meghan says that her parents would do just about anything to pay for her college education in full, but with two brothers also in college the finances are simply not available. Meghan views the prospect of interest rates doubling as an attack on college students trying to make a better future for themselves. Sadly, she said it feels like it is a punishment for trying to obtain a college degree.

When I was at Keene State College in Keene last week, I met Keith Couch, a parent who has a daughter at Keene and a son at Boston College. Between his two kids, his annual tuition bill comes to $90,000. No wonder he is having trouble figuring out from where the money is going to come. He spends hours trying to figure out how his family will make college payments each month. He said loans help bridge that gap.

One constituent, Erin, posted on my Facebook wall that her husband recently completed medical assistant courses at Hesser College in Manchester. He is due to start paying his student loans next month, but he hasn't been able to find a job in his chosen field. Erin said that family finances are tight and if interest rates were to double on the loans they have, there is no way they would be able to pay them back.

The stories I have heard in New Hampshire are similar to the stories Senator Blumenthal told about Connecticut and what Senator Schumer has had to say about New York and what we are hearing from students and families across the country. Higher education is essential for economic opportunity and personal growth. It is equally essential to the prosperity of our country, and, most importantly, the prospect of higher debt levels affects whether people choose to enter college to begin with.

When I was in Plymouth last week at Plymouth State University, a student stood up and said: I want to teach history. Tell me why I shouldn't just drop out of college and be a mechanic. I said: Well, I like teachers myself, and we need more of them. But in this rapidly changing, highly competitive global economy, we should be doing everything we can to make sure college is more accessible to Americans so we don't have students across this country saying: Why shouldn't I drop out if no one supports my getting a college education?

It is critical for all of us, and, unfortunately, high debt burdens have serious consequences for individuals, for families, and for the economy. Student loan debt affects where graduates live, the kinds of careers they can pursue, whether they can start a new business, when they can start a new family, when they can purchase a new home, and when they can start to save for retirement.

Our students deserve better. We need to get rid of any obstacles that are keeping our students from getting the education they need to succeed. We should not put more obstacles in their way. We need to come together, Democrats and Republicans, to stop this increase in student loan interest rates and to do what is in the best interest of our families and our young people who need that college education.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I yield the floor.

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