WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today issued the following statement regarding Senate passage of H.R. 1911, the “Student Loan Act”:

“Planning ahead for college is a difficult process, and students and families should be able to make these important decisions without worrying about uncertainty in Washington. The ‘Obama Economy’ and costly premiums under the president’s health-care law have compounded the challenges that young Americans face. Financing their education should not add to this burden.

“The permanent market-based solution that I supported, removes Washington from the business of arbitrarily fixing student loan rates. This bipartisan legislation provides students with long-term certainty as they battle the mounting costs of education.”

The “Student Loan Act,” which passed by a vote of 81-18, will:

• Retroactively lower student loan interest rates for all loans taken out since July 1, 2013, and sets future loan rates to market-based prices.

• Fix interest rates over the life of the loan.

• Impose a cap to ensure interest rates never exceed 8.25 percent for undergraduate students, 9.5 percent for graduate students, and10.5 percent for PLUS borrowers.