Student loan interest rates could double July 1st



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Student loan interest rates could double if Congress does not act by July 1st.  Stafford loans would increase from 3.4 % to 6.8 %.  That would be an estimated $1,000 more in debt per year.

Republicans and Democrats have both proposed deals that were shot down.  Democrats unsuccessfully sought a two-year extension of current rates.  Republicans wanted to link interest rates to financial markets.

"School should be preparing you for life," MATC student Kim Dood said.  "It shouldn't be withholding you from living."

Dood is a liberal arts student.  She currently has $11,000 in student loans.  She estimates that will increase to $40,000 by the time she graduates.

"The message to Congress: don't increase the rates, they're high enough as they are already,"  Dood said.

Last year, lawmakers passed a one year extension on student loan interest rates.