U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) took part in a student loan roundtable today on the University of Missouri campus.
She is co-sponsoring the Bank on Student Loans Fairness Act with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The bill would reduce the interest rate on federally guaranteed loans for undergraduates from the current 3.4 percent to the 0.75 percent-rate banks receive when they borrow from the government. McCaskill also heard from graduate and professional degree students in attendance who said their loans should be part of the discussion.
“These students were pretty persuasive today that graduate students do need to be part of the discussion and I will make sure that they are when I get back,” McCaskill said.
Some students alerted McCaskill that the expense of caring for adult dependents is not currently accounted for in calculating student financial need. McCaskill says she will work on making sure it does.