New York, NY--The New York City Council passed two resolutions today related to the ballooning student debt in the United States, calling on congress to pass and President Obama to sign S.1066, the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act, by Senator Gillibrand and S.897/H.R. 1979, the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, by Senator Warren, which would reduce the interest rate of federal subsidized Stafford student loans for one year from the current 3.4% to 0.75%.

The Resolutions, introduced by Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez and Melissa Mark-Viverito are aimed at bringing greater awareness to the pending doubling of interest rates of all federal student loans from 3.4% to 6.8%, a move that would have devastating impacts across the country. The federal legislation supported by these resolutions can allow students to refinance their student loans as well as lower interest rates to those offered to U.S. banks by the Department of the Treasury.

Currently, over 38 million people have student loan debt obligations, amounting to close to $1 trillion. Over the last 10 years, student loan debt has quadrupled from $240 billion in 2003. With the planned increase in federal Stafford loans, more defaults are expected as currently, students are not able to refinance their loans.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, chair of the City Council Committee on Higher Education had this to say: "Our country is in the midst of a crisis, with millions of students already unable to pay their exorbitant loans back on time. The planned increase will exacerbate this issue unless our leaders in Washington step up. We can no longer continue to mortgage the American Dream at such usurious rates. There is a clear need to reform this system so that students do not become so heavily weighed down by their debt immediately after college. New York City sends a clear message to Washington today to keep education affordable so that our middle class can grow and thrive. College accessibility is and has always been the gateway to the middle class for Americans and affordability is now a major factor in determining who can and cannot go. Educational justice is a real issue in this country. As we seek to increase college readiness among New York City children, this effort becomes futile if they cannot afford the services in the end."