Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of lowering interest rates on student loans to alleviate college financial burdens on students beginning during the 2007-08 academic year.

All nine Washington state representatives supported the cut.

Also known as the College Student Relief Act of 2007, this bill will gradually reduce college loan rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent within the next five years, affecting almost 48,000 students in the state of Washington, according to the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG).

HR 5 is expected to save the average UW student starting college in 2007 about $2,310 over the duration of his or her loans.

Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., an early supporter of the bill, believes there is more to the issue than reducing interest rates.

“It is only part of the solution to expanding access to higher education,” he said in a press release. “We must also look at ways to make tuition more affordable for students, as ever-increasing tuition rates are prohibitive for many prospective low- and middle-income students.”

The ASUW Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of HR 5 and Norm Arkans, executive director of UW media relations, also strongly endorsed the bill.

“Regardless of what happens in tuition, student debt is a serious issue,” said Arkans. “We want to make it affordable. We want to keep the costs of borrowing money to go to college as reasonable and as affordable as we can have it for students.”

According to WashPIRG’s press statement, the average four-year college student in Washington starting school in 2011 with subsidized Stafford loans will save $4,670 over the life of his or her loans.

Students who qualify for unsubsidized Stafford loans, also known as non-need-based loans, will not benefit from these reductions.

HR 5 predominately offers loan cuts to students who come from families with incomes of $67,000 or less.

According to Petersons.com, an educational resource web site, need-based borrowing has increased by 44 percent while non-need-based borrowing has grown by a staggering 229 percent during the past 10 years.

Bryce McKibben, UW’s student lobbyist, thinks students who qualified for non-need-based financial aid were abandoned due to political time constraints.

“Democrats were anxious to pass their legislation,” he said. “Also, there was probably some confidence (right or not) that the Senate would ‘fix the problem’ with their leisurely and more thoughtful debate.”

Shirin Ebrahimi, campaign coordinator for WashPIRG, maintains that HR 5 is “a great first step towards providing students and families with a more affordable college education.”

ASUW President Cullen White said that while HR 5 won’t solve problems for every student, it will help students breathe a little easier.

He personally has unsubsidized and subsidized Stafford loans and, at one point, worked 40 hours per week to pay for school expenses.

“These loan cuts will go a long way in helping students focus more on what they want to study, instead of how they are going to pay for school,” said White. “We hope Congress will continue to make higher education more affordable and accessible for all youths of America.”

Reach reporter Anthony Shelly at develop@thedaily.washington.edu