Student loans 101: What's at stake in D.C. feud over college loan subsidy?

Interest rates are set to double on certain federal student loans, if Congress and President Obama don't agree on a fix by July 1. Who would be affected? How did we get here in the first place? Here are answers to five key questions.

2. How many students take out these loans?

J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Clarise McCants of Philadelphia, a Howard University political science major, center, flanked by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) of Ohio, left, and Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island, right, speaks during a recent news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Obama on Thursday called on Congress to keep interest rates on federally subsidized loans from doubling for millions of college students.

Subsidized Stafford loans make up about one-third of the dollar volume of all federal student loans. And 9.3 million students, about 30 percent of undergraduates, took out these loans in 2010-11, according to the College Board.

This year the rate-change would affect nearly 7.5 million borrowers, the White House estimates.

2 of 5
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.