To: Sen. Tom Udall (NM-1) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM-2)
Give students the same loan rates we give big banks
I urge you to sign on as a co-sponsor to Senator Elizabeth Warren's Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act. Senator Warren's bill will prevent the doubling of federal student loan interest rates—set to happen on July 1, 2013—by reducing student loan interest rates to the same level the Federal Reserve gives to big banks (0.75%).
Our students are our future and this unnecessary increase in their debt obligations will only serve to stifle the economic recovery and prevent our young people from becoming productive members in our society. Over-burdensome debt obligations make it harder to buy a car, take out a mortgage, start a business, get married, or save for retirement.
We need to be investing in our young people, not burdening them with interest rates nine times higher than the rates the big banks that nearly destroyed our entire economy pay on their loans.
Please stand with New Mexico's students and sign on as a co-sponsor to Senator Warren's bill. As Senator Warren said when she unveiled her bill, "This is about our students, our economy, and our values." Our students and our economy need your support.
Why is this important?
On July 1, 2013 any college student taking out a new, federally subsidized student loan will pay an interest rate of 6.8%; that is double the 3.4% interest rate students now pay and more than 9 times the rates big banks pay for their loans.
Senator Warren’s bill would reduce student loan interest rates to 0.75%, the same level the Federal Reserve offers to big banks.
US students already hold more than $1 trillion in student loan debt and the amount of student loan debt for students under age 25 has doubled in less than a decade, from $10,649 in 2003 to $20,326 in 2012.
Average student loan debt for New Mexico students is in line with national averages – between $22,000 & $25,000 per student. New Mexico’s student loan delinquency rate, however, was 14.1% in the first quarter of 2012 – seventh highest among states. Students at New Mexico’s top universities have also seen their tuitions increase by over 120% during the last 15 years.