Congressman Peter Welch said Monday that he has a plan to head off the scheduled doubling of student loan interest rates.
Stafford loans currently carry a 3.4 percent interest rate, which is scheduled to balloon to six-point percent in July.
Welch wants to extend the existing rate.
"This is a real threat to the middle class," Welch said. "My view: affordable loans are absolutely essential for families to have a shot at sending their kids to school and for us to build an economy based on the middle class."
Welch outlined his ideas during an event earlier today with students and their families, as well as representatives of the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.
Welch says student loan debt in the United States has reached $870 billion and tuition has grown by better than 8 percent.
He says that’s more than credit card and auto loan debt and the trend is expected to continue. So he wants to make the loans more affordable.