Subsidized Stafford student loan interest rates will DOUBLE on July 1, 2012.

This will cause the student loan interest rate to double from 3.4% to 6.8%, which will negatively impact over 7 million student loan borrowers across the country.

This rate hike could not come at a worse time. It will make subsidized Stafford loans much more expensive at a time when campus budgets are taking a hit. Over 40 states are poised to increase tuition AGAIN on top of the record tuition increases in 2011.

According to the Pew Research Center, 37% of 18 to 29 year olds are unemployed, the highest share among this age group in more than three decades. Young people who graduate from college in a bad economy typically suffer long-term consequences-with effects on their earnings that linger for as long as 15 years.

In this economy, we cannot let the interest rate DOUBLE and we cannot be putting students nationwide into debt.

Sign this for the students!!!

Congressman or Congresswoman,

If the United States is to recover from our economic downturn, we must continue our investment in the students and workers who are the future of our workforce by not doubling the Stafford student loan interest rate from 3.4% to 6.8%. Students should not be punished for bettering themselves through education.

I urge my Representatives and Senators in Congress to oppose this Stafford student loan interest rate for the betterment of our society.

Thank you for your time!