More Than 250,000 Sign Petition Supporting Elizabeth Warren’s Bill To Charge Students The Same Loan Rates As Banks

A MoveOn.org petition from Senator Elizabeth Warren supporting her bill that would charge students the same rate for loans as banks already has more than 250,000 signatures.

Warren appeared on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell last week to discuss her proposal that goes further than keeping student loan rates from doubling to 6.8 percent on July 1. Her first bill as a senator would cuts rates to as low as .75 percent, which is the rate big banks currently pay the Federal Reserve for overnight loans.

She pointed to a recent report from the Federal Reserve that said student loan debt is threatening our recovery.

“We the taxpayers make an investment in our financial institutions,” Senator Warren said. “Can’t we make the same investment in students who are trying to get an education?”

The federal government makes 36 cents on every dollar it lends to students.

“The students are a profit center for the government right now, the kids out there struggling to get an education — but not those big financial institutions,” Warren said. “C’mon.”