U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) on Thursday voted against H.R. 1911, the House Majority’s Making College More Expensive Act, which would make college more expensive for students and families by forcing them into loans with interest rates that fluctuate year by year.

This would further compound the student debt crisis, according to Thompson’s office.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill would charge millions of students and families $3.7 billion over the next decade in additional interest payments relative to current law.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the House Majority’s bill is even worse for students and families than allowing interest rates to double on July 1 as currently scheduled.

Under H.R. 1911, students who borrow the maximum amount of subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans over five years would pay nearly $2,000 more in interest costs than if interest rates doubled.

“Our students and families deserve better than a bill that makes many students pay higher interest payments than they would if Congress did nothing and interest rates doubled,” said Thompson. “Total student debt currently stands at $1.1 trillion, greater than credit card debt. This bill would increase that debt. Instead we should pass the bill that I co-authored which would prevent student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1st and would save hard working families millions of dollars.”

Under the House Majority’s bill, interest rates on loans would be reset every year. So, the interest rate on a loan taken out next year by a freshman may start off low, but she doesn’t get to keep that interest rate for the life of the loan. It will change every year, potentially skyrocketing.

The House Marjory’s Leadership refused to allow the House to consider the Democratic bill co-sponsored by Thompson to block student loan rates from doubling on July 1st.

This bill, H.R. 1433, the Student Loan Relief Act, continues to allow college students to benefit from historically low interest rates by freezing the current low 3.4 percent rate on subsidized Stafford loans for the next two years.

“The one essential element to our nation’s long-term economic success is education. We need to work together to keep college costs down,” said Thompson.