Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), joined U.S. Sen Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-2) to introduce the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act in the Senate and House. The legislation would allow those with outstanding student loan debt to refinance at the interest rates that were approved last year for new borrowers. A previous version of the bill was voted on in the 113th Congress, and every Senate Democrat and three Senate Republicans voted to move the bill forward, falling just short of breaking a Republican filibuster.
“Young people are our greatest national asset and we must invest in their potential,” said Sen. Booker. “Student loan debt has a crippling effect on our economic recovery and the financial health of recent graduates. If we can refinance car and home loans, we should also refinance school loans. This legislation will give students a fairer shot at achieving the American dream.”
“Since last year, nearly a million more borrowers have fallen behind on their student loan payments,” said Senator Warren. “Young people who are working hard to build a future deserve a real opportunity to succeed, and that means letting struggling borrowers refinance their student loans to take advantage of lower interest rates – the same way people refinance a mortgage, a car loan, or business debt. The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act would give much-needed relief to millions of borrowers, help boost our economy, and strengthen America’s middle class.”
Many borrowers with outstanding student loans have interest rates of nearly 7 percent or higher for undergraduate loans, while students who took out loans in the 2013-2014 school year pay a rate of 3.86 percent under the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act passed by Congress in 2013. The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act would allow our students and young people to pay back their outstanding loans at the same rates that Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate embraced last Congress as the appropriate rates for new borrowers.