I graduated from Bromfield a few years ago and am now heading into my junior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, so I only have a few years before I have to start paying off my growing student loans. I am pleased that Congress, after a few months of political jockeying, recently passed a bill that extends the decreased Stafford loan interest rate of 3.4 percent for another year instead of allowing it to jump back to 6.8 percent. The bill, supported by our congressional delegation, makes college more affordable to those of us who rely on these loans to continue our education.
Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has been a consistent supporter to keep these rates manageable. At the end of this semester, Elizabeth sat down with me and several other students from the five-college consortium that UMass is a part of and listened to our stories on our navigation through the student loan process. As someone who went to public school for her undergraduate and graduate school education, she especially understood the plight that state university students have to face with increasing budget cuts and rising tuition fees.
I have no doubt that if elected to office Elizabeth will stand up for me and my classmates, which is why I am spending my summer volunteering for her. Her position has never wavered, and I know that after the campaign season is over, she will support us in the Senate and keep the rates we pay for loans low.
Mina Rae Beckman
Withington Lane
