Obama, Noting Own Student Debt Burden, Expands Repayment Cap and Pushes Bill

This entry was posted on 06.12.14, in Funding, National, Postsecondary, Students. Bookmark the permalink.

President Obama signed an executive order on Monday intended to lessen the college loan burden on nearly five million younger Americans by capping repayments at 10 percent of the borrowers’ monthly income.

Joined by indebted graduates in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama said the spiraling cost of higher education had put “too big a debt load on too many people.”

“These rising costs have left middle-class families feeling trapped,” he said. “You’ve got middle-class families who can’t build up enough savings, don’t qualify for support, feel like nobody’s looking out for them.”

Mr. Obama drew on his own financial history in promoting the measure. He told the audience that he and his wife, Michelle, paid off their law school loans just 10 years ago, after they had already begun saving for their daughters’ college educations.

“This is why I feel so strongly about this,” the president said. “This is why I’m passionate about it.” <Read more.>

Via Mark Landler, The New York Times.