College students and their families will lace higher student loan costs as the result of multiple recent congressional moves. The moves will also spell small cuts for other core financial aid programs.

Before adjourning for the winter holiday break, the House of Representatives and the Senate approved $12.7 billion in long-term reductions to student loan programs (see Diverse, Jan. 12). Part of a $40 billion deficit reduction bill, lawmakers agreed to raise interest rates on parent loans from 7.8 percent to 8.5 percent and set an interest rate of 6.8 percent on Stafford Loans. The Stafford Loans currently cost less than other loans because they follow market rates.

Some of the lenders under the Stafford program have interest rates below 5 percent, says Jasmine Harris, legislative director of the United States Student Association.

The reaction to the bill from education advocates was immediate and angry. Noting that costs at many public colleges are increasing at double-digit annual rates, National Education Association President Reginald Weaver says the move sends a negative signal about the value of higher education.

"Congress cannot ask students to strive for college without the funding they need to attend college," he says.

Students and their parents are bearing one-third of all the cuts in the budget package, says Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, a Congressional Black Caucus member. "Some here in Congress have gone out of their way to make college less obtainable for millions of students," she says.

The budget package would use a small percentage of the student loan savings for new financial aid spending. Congress has authorized $3.75 billion for a new program with grants to students who have high GPAs and have studied a rigorous high school curriculum. However, critics such as the USSA question whether such a merit-based program would actually improve college access for at-risk students.

Both the House and Senate approved the student loan cuts in a close vote. Due to a procedural matter, however, the House must re-vote on the issue in late January before it can become law.

In its flurry of December activity, however, Congress approved and President Bush signed into law two bills that will result in a net loss of funds for many financial aid programs in 2006.