A Florida Senator wants to help students get through college.
When Congress returns from its Fourth of July recess next week, Sen. Bill Nelson will propose federal legislation to cut student loan interest rates, and to allow borrowers to refinance existing loans.
Last week, the government increased rates for new loans from 3.76 to almost 4.5 percent.
Nelson wants to permanently cap the rates for undergraduate students at four percent, and allow borrowers with existing student loans that have a rate higher than 4 percent to refinance their loans to the new lower rate – a move that’s currently barred under existing law.
More than 43 million Americans currently have outstanding student loan debt. In Florida alone, students graduating with a four-year degree leave college with more than $24,000 in student loan debt on average.