As student loan interest rates are set to double in 4 days for 7.5 million students, college leaders of Hispanic Serving Institutions are urging the US Senate to take swift action to freeze the low rate on subsidized Stafford student loans. On July 1, if Congress does nothing, the interest rate will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent for new subsidized Stafford student loan borrowers, negatively impacting Hispanic students.

“Higher education is crucial to economic stability long term, so it is a top priority of ours to ensure that Latino students succeed,” said Dr. Maria Vallejo, provost of Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Florida.

“Financial barriers are mentioned time and again as a key reason why Latino students, and indeed many other college-qualified individuals, opt out of post-secondary education. That’s why federal financial aid programs, including the Stafford student loan program, are more important today than they ever were. Student aid indicates to students and their families that if they decide to advance their education, society will help.”

“There’s a great deal of good that our nation’s colleges and universities are doing to ensure access and quality with regard to educating and training the American people,” said Dr. Jose Vicente, president of Miami Dade College North.

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