In a public address scheduled Tuesday morning, U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (14th-D) says she will speak out in support of a bill that could help many Floridians with their student loan debt.
Rep. Castor says she will be "Bank on Student Emergency Loan Refinancing Act" in the House of Representatives. If passed, it would allow college graduates locked into federal student loans with high rates to refinance and lower their rates to about 3.86% interest.
Many college graduates are paying back interest at double that rate, so if the bill was successfully passed, it could save many college grads hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars in debt.
There are currently 1.4 million Floridians with some kind of student loan debt. In Florida, the average student graduates just over $24,000 in debt, according to the Institute for College Access & Success.
The address will take place outside the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in downtown Tampa at 10 a.m.
The president of USF's student body will be among those joining Rep. Castor, as well as the SGA president of the Hillsborough Community College, and two local bankruptcy attorneys, Tom Curran and Kelly Petry.
