1,956 Charlestown Students to Be Affected by Failure of Scott Brown and Senate Republicans to Prevent Loan Rates from Doubling

Without action, interest rates on Stafford loans will double, adding an average of $1,000 per year to college cost for 1,956 residents of Charlestown

CHARLESTOWN– On July 1^st, 1,956 Charlestown students will see their student loan interest rates double if U.S. Senator Scott Brown and his Republican colleagues in the Senate continue blocking plans to extend the current low interest rates. At the end of the month, interest rates on new loans are set to double from 3.4% to 6.8%, adding an average of $1,000 each year to the cost of attending college. Republican U.S. Senator Brown has already joined his GOP colleagues in voting to block legislation that would extend the lower rate. Currently, 195,000 students across the Commonwealth receive Stafford loans.

“Scott Brown should stand with Charlestown families, not Washington, DC Republicans, and stop blocking efforts to keep loan interest rates low and college affordable for middle-class families.” said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair John Walsh. “His political games are going to cost 1,956 college students in Charlestown an average of $1,000 a year."
 
Republican Senator Scott Brown has already voted to block legislation that would have extended the current 3.4% interest rate and prevented the rate from spiking to 6.8%. Brown’s own proposal to keep the rate at its current level does not provide anywhere near the $6 billion required to pay for the legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Massachusetts college student Brendan Concannon called on Brown today to abandon his phony proposal and stop blocking real efforts to keep rates low. 

“My message to Scott Brown is clear – don’t double my rate,” said Concannon, a Bridgewater State University student and South Shore Regional Director of the College Democrats of Massachusetts. “College is expensive enough as it is, I don’t need Washington making it any tougher.”