Student loan rates will rise by almost 60 basis points across the board for the upcoming academic year, says Mark Kantrowitz, a well-known expert on financial aid and student loans.
Subsidized and unsubsidized federal Stafford loans for undergraduates will carry a 5.045% rate, the highest rate in nine years, up 0.595 percentage point. Graduate student loans and Parent Plus loans will charge rates of 6.595% and 7.595% — both the highest levels since the 2012-2013 academic year.
The Department of Education has not officially released the new rates, but since they're always based on the last 10-Treasury note auction in May and since there is only one such Treasury auction, on May 9, Kantrowitz was able to calculate the new rates.
"It usually takes the U.S. Department of Education a few weeks to issue the press release concerning the new rates," Kantrowitz wrote to ThinkAdvisor. "Last year they issued it on May 30."
ThinkAdvisor has contacted the Education Department for comment but did not hear back by press time.
