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Federal lawmakers are being urged by students of Pennsylvania colleges to restrain from hiking student loan rates further. They wish to strike this deal as the cost of higher education is quite high as such.

From July 1st, subsidized Stafford loan rates are set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 per cent. According to students, this move could burden current students to a great extent and also keep away aspiring students from pursuing their college degrees.

Jamira Burley, a senior at Temple University said that young people will find this increase too much to handle and the possibility of accumulating so much debt will create a sense of hopelessness among them.

The student loam legislation debate was blocked by the Senate Republicans and this in turn made the congressional agreement appear farther off. According to federal statistics, Stafford loans have been taken by at least 400,000 Pennsylvania residents.

Each of them has taken an average of $4,100. The increase in loan interest rate means each of them will now be paying $1000 more on each loans life. Many students have more than one Stafford loan and this means more burdens on them.

In Washington, Democrats and Republicans are unanimous in their wish to keep the interest rates lower. However they disagree on ways to cover $6 billion cost. GOP wants to deal with this situation by eliminating the preventive health fund. This fund came into existence in 2010 as a part of overhauling healthcare initiative.

Democrats on the other hand want to raise private corporation stockholder taxes. If they only continue to talk and do nothing about it, rates will be hiked automatically when the law expires. New loans from July 1st will then have to pay a higher rate of interest.

Average student debt in the state is $29,000. By the time students complete their college education, they owe twice the amount and this is a huge burden on them. For example, 23 year old Burley will graduate from Temple owing more than double this amount.

According to her, her debt amount is $56,000. Though she is not going to be affected by the hike, she fears that it will scare the younger students from pursuing higher education. In her family, she said, she was the first to attend college and get a high school diploma.

President Obama is trying to be proactive by encouraging students to share their views on Twitter. Conference calls are being arranged by officials for state officials, concerned students and reporters to voice their views.

Kathryn Badillo, a Milersville University senior said in one of these calls that she has taken $25,000 education loan. Her brother is now burdened with $100,000 loan having chosen to study at a private university. Seeing his plight, she decided to opt for the affordable state school.

Graduating soon, she said that the loan repayment is the only thing on her mind now in contrast to a stress free life she enjoyed when she started school. According to Badillo, 18 is an age when going to school now and paying for it later seems good enough.