Senate fails to keep student loan rates low

In this July 8, 2013, photo, with a backdrop of college students on the step of the House of Representatives, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, and GOP leaders talk about the politics of federal student loan rates which doubled on July 1, at the Capitol in Washington.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. rides an escalator on Capitol in Washington, Wednesday as senators rushed to the floor for a vote to end debate on the Democrats' plan to restore lower interest rates on student loans one week after Congress' inaction caused those rates to double.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., left, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., right, join other senators in the rush to the Senate floor on Capitol in Washington, Wednesday for a vote to end debate on the Democrats' plan to restore lower interest rates on student loans.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. right, accompanied by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., gestures as he speaks with reporters on Capitol in Washington, Tuesday about student loan rates.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks with reporters about student loan rates following a Democratic strategy session at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — An effort to restore lower interest rates on student loans has failed in the Senate.

The White House and most Senate Democrats favored restoring interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent for another year. But lawmakers on Wednesday were unable to muster the necessary 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

That left interest rates at 6.8 percent — a rate that leaders from both parties called unacceptable.

Interest rates doubled on July 1 because Congress was unable to send a bill to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Few students so far have been affected because few sign their loans during the summer. But roughly a quarter of all federal lending is through the program and the new rates could affect millions of students.