A bill introduced in Congress on Thursday is getting some support, including from a member of Georgia’s delegation, that lowers student loan interest payments as many students grapple with various financial challenges during the national emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coronavirus Emergency Student Loan Refinancing Act would allow all student loan borrowers – both federal and private – to refinance their loans as follows:
- Undergraduate loans: 2.59% in comparison to 4.53% for the 2019-2020 school year
- Graduate loans: 4.14% in comparison to 6.08% for the 2019-2020 school year
- PLUS loans: 5.14% in comparison to 7.08% for the 2019-2020 school year
“The Coronavirus Emergency Student Loan Refinancing Act will allow borrowers to take advantage of this critical time in the market, lower their monthly loan payments, and give them a little more security during this uncertain time,” U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., one of the bill’s 40 co-sponsors, said in a statement Friday.
Currently, all sponsors of the bill are Democrats.
The Trump administration has approved several measures in recent days concerning student loans amid the emergency. On Wednesday, they announced a 60 day suspension of collection actions and wage garnishments against default student loan borrowers. Last week, they allowed borrowers with federally held student loans to suspend their payments for the next two months and all interest waived on federal student loans.
The bill proposed would include all student loans.
About 57% of Georgians who have recently earned college degrees have student loan debt, according to a 2019 report by The Institute for College Access and Success. The average student loan debt is about $29,000.
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