Negotiators closing in on student loan deal
Source: AP-Excite
ALAN FRAM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional bargainers appeared to be closing in on a compromise that would head off a July 1 doubling of interest rates on federal loans to 7.4 million college students and end an election-year battle between President Barack Obama and Congress.
Senate aides from both parties said Friday the two sides were moving toward a deal on how to pay the measure's $6 billion price tag, the chief source of partisan conflict.
The goal is to push legislation through Congress next week so the current 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans can be preserved for another year. A 2007 law gradually reduced interest rates on the loans but required them to balloon back to 6.8 percent this July 1 in a cost-saving maneuver.
On another front, the two sides were also close to an agreement to overhaul federal transportation programs, according to House and Senate aides from both parties. Negotiations were expected to continue through the weekend, with votes expected next week on either a major transportation bill or an extension of current programs, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the talks.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120623/D9VIPF980.html
President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 21, 2012, in Washington, to call on Congress to stop interest rates on student loans from doubling on July 1. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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I took my stafford loans out between 2008 and 2010, all of them at 6.8%. I had an 800+ credit rating at the time, and own my house outright.
I never saw any student loans offered at anything less than 6.8%. Too bad those rates can't be made retroactive. 
