President Asks Congress to Hold Line on Student Loans

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is urging Congress to prevent an increase in student loan rates.

 

Obama says rising college costs hold back — quote — “our entire middle class.”

Obama appeared with college students Friday in the Rose Garden. It’s the beginning of a public campaign by the president to temporarily extend current student loan rates — or find a compromise to avoid a rate increase on July 1.

Obama says the country cannot saddle young people with more debt just as they start out in life.

The White House proposes linking the student loan rates to financial markets. The Republican-controlled House passed a similar plan last week. But differences between Obama’s proposal and the House bill have prompted a White House veto threat.