NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield), who represents UC Davis and who served as a University of California Regent and California State University trustee, once again this week called for Congress to prevent the Stafford student loan interest rate from doubling for seven million students and families in exactly one week – on July 1.

Garamendi is a cosponsor of H.R. 1595, the Student Loan Relief Act of 2013, which would freeze the interest rate on these loans at 3.4% for the next two years.

He also has signed a discharge petition to bring the bill to the House Floor for a vote. The petition has garnered the signature of 195 Members of Congress, but needs a majority (218) to force a vote.

“A college education provides a ladder for people to climb up toward their American Dream. However, in just one week, hard working students at UC Davis, Solano Community College, Yuba College, and schools across the country will be kicked down a rung unless Congress acts to prevent Stafford Student Loan Rates from doubling,” Garamendi said.

“Forcing students to pay an average of $1,000 more for their education would not only hurt them, it would harm America’s families, businesses, and our economy. For that reason, I have called for legislation freezing the current rate to be brought to the floor. Congress should not adjourn until we stop this senseless rate hike,” Garamendi added.

At UC Davis, 11,000 students use Stafford Student Loans to help them pay for tuition.

On May 23, House Republicans passed H.R. 1911, the “Making College More Expensive Act,” a student loan bill that was even worse for students and families than allowing interest rates to double – with even higher interest payments by students and families.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, under their bill, 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.

As a UC regent and CSU trustee, Garamendi voted against every undergraduate tuition increase, because he believes higher education is already too expensive and already pricing qualified students out of an education.