Recently, I started researching student loans for the first time. In my quest to find the best deal, I spent hours researching and attempted to absorb every piece of knowledge I could about private and federal loans, interest rates, APR, and payment options.

What I learned gave me a shocking reality check: many middle-class Americans don’t qualify for scholarships, and loans turned out to be a lot more expensive than I ever would have predicted. After all, student loan providers can say all they want about helping students get an education, but the bottom line is: they want your money. Did you know for a $10,000 private student loan paid back over 20 years, you might end up paying an additional $20,000 just in interest and finance charges?!

With that in mind, Congress is trying to do something about making college more affordable. The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 is working its way through the Senate, and the Higher Education Access Act of 2007 is working its way through the House. If both of these bills are passed, they will:

• Cut interest rates in half on subsidized student loans
• Guarantee that you never have to pay more than 15 percent of your income at a time on loan payments
• Forgive your loan debt after 20 years if you are having serious financial troubles
• Increase federal loan limits so you can borrow more money from them (at a lower interest rate) without having to rely on the more expensive private loans

I could go on, but the list is very long. In short, these reforms are all about making sure student loan providers are working in the students’ interest and not their own.

What can you do? Take action! Contact your representatives and make sure they’re supporting these reforms — find out more about these bills and how to take action at www.collegeaffordabilitynow.com!