Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

with interest

Reading about rising student loan interest rates in today’s Washington Post made me so glad that I consolidated my grad school loans and locked in a super-low rate after I graduated in 2004. I’ll be paying it off until the end of time, but at least I won’t be hurting as bad as this poor GW student:

A combination of rising interest rates and legislative changes to the student loan program will alter the student loan landscape on July 1. Rates on existing Stafford loans — the bedrock government-guaranteed student loans that 44 percent of full-time undergraduates rely on to pay tuition bills — change annually and are pegged to 91-day Treasury bills … Last June, rates on Stafford loans in repayment stood at 3.37 percent. On July 1, they will top 7 percent.

There’s more: Under legislation Congress approved in 2002, rates on all new Stafford loans issued after July 1 will carry a higher, fixed interest rate of 6.8 percent … The new fixed rate means student loans will seem cheap when market interest rates are high and expensive when they’re low.

“It definitely scares me,” says Jordan McNerney, a senior at George Washington University, who expects to face payments of about $1,000 a month on $85,000 in total debt when he graduates in a year. “That’s basically doubling my rent when I get out of school,” he says.

(The Washington Post: “Graduated Interest” - 06/18/06)

Oh, good lord. I can’t even imagine paying that much every month for possibly decades for something that isn’t rent or a mortgage. Yikes. (And with all this talk of loans and rising interest rates, I’m even doubly glad that Rob’s going to be getting his graduate degree for free, thanks to the joys of tuition benefits.)