U.S. Senator Tina Smith has thrown her support behind a proposal to help tens of millions of student loan borrowers in Minnesota and around the country lower their monthly debt burden.
The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act would give Americans with student debt the opportunity to refinance their loans at lower interest rates. Right now, people can refinance other types of debt—e.g. home, car, or business loans—but there’s no national program in place to refinance federal student loans.
“The price tag on a college degree is a serious source of anxiety for Minnesota students and families, and often, the only real way to afford that degree is by taking out massive amounts of loans,” said Sen. Smith, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “Unfortunately, this way of doing things is sticking the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders—and really anybody who wants to take a chance on themselves—with a lifetime of debt to pay back. The least we can do is help lessen that burden. This measure would establish a national effort to help tens of millions of Americans refinance their student loan debt at lower rates, saving them money each and every month.”
Outstanding student loans now total more than $1.4 trillion, surpassing credit card debt—and every year, students are taking on more. The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, originally introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), would give student loan borrowers a chance to refinance their debt at the same low rates offered to new borrowers in the student loan program
You can read more about the bill here.
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