Federal student loan interest rates just increased

Interest rates on federal student loans recently jumped by one percentage point.

Undergraduate loans now carry a rate of 6.53% for the 2024-2025 school year, up from 5.50% last school year. Graduate direct loans have a rate of 8.08%, up from 7.05%. And PLUS loans for grad students and parents of undergraduates rose to 9.08%, up from 8.05% this year.

The new rates took effect on July 1, after being in a Treasury auction earlier this year.

This marks the fourth straight year that interest rates on federal loans for higher education increased, and the rates for the upcoming school year are the highest that students have paid in more than a decade.

 

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