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Sen. Cornyn Votes to Reduce Student Loan Debt for Nearly 650,000 Texas Students
- Updated: July 30, 2013
Backs Market-Based Reforms to Fix Broken Student Loan Program
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas issued the following statement on Thursday, July 25th after voting in favor of legislation that makes substantial, market-based reforms to the broken federal student loan program and brings down interest rates for Texas college students:
“I’m proud to have supported a meaningful set of market-based reforms today that will translate into real savings for nearly 650,000 Texas students and their parents who are estimated to borrow over $5 billion in the coming year to help pay for college. These are the kind of bipartisan steps we must continue to take to help our young people succeed and get this economy back on track for a more prosperous future.”
Background:
The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act requires that, for each academic year, all newly issued student loans be set to the U.S. Treasury 10-year borrowing rate (specifically, the yield on the 10-year note as determined by the last auction held before June of each year—not the changing daily rate).
The resulting interest rates for loans taken out this year, after July 1, 2013, would be 3.86% for all loans for undergraduate students—both subsidized and unsubsidized. Rates would be 5.41% on unsubsidized loans for graduate students, and 6.41% on PLUS loans for parents and graduate students.
These rates would apply retroactively to newly issued loans taken out after July 1, 2013. The interest rate would be fixed over the life of the loan to provide borrowers with certainty to plan for the future. Additionally, this bill protects against the threat of unforeseen circumstances by imposing a cap to ensure interest rates never exceed 8.25% for undergraduate students, 9.5% for graduate students, 10.5% for PLUS borrowers. The Congressional Budget Office has determined this legislation would save taxpayers $715 million over ten years.
Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance and Judiciary Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.
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