Obama: Keep rates of student loans low

Washington Post

Obama will also appear for the first time on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” which will be taped Tuesday on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to NBC. According to a White House fact sheet issued Friday, student loan rates for 7.4 million Americans will double on July 1 without congressional intervention to extend current rates. Without action, the higher rates would translate into $1,000 in additional debt each year for the average student, the fact sheet said. Obama’s push will include an appearance by Education Secretary Arne Duncan at Friday’s White House briefing with Press Secretary Jay Carney; it will also feature a social-media campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ using the hashtag #DontDoubleMyRate. The effort also targets a critical constituency for the president as the general election gets underway: young people. Obama’s trip will feature stops in three states widely seen as battlegrounds this year, and his appearances are all scheduled for college campuses — a crucial focus of the reelection campaign’s organizing efforts this year.