Mother Jones Jun. 3, 2013 Student Loan Debt Is a Beast. Here Are Elizabeth Warren's, President Obama's, and the GOP's Plans to Fix It. By Erika Eichelberger, Maggie Severns, and Brett Brownell If you're one of the 37 million Americans with student loan debt, you're in for a real treat come July 1. That's when interest rates on federal student loans are set to rise to 6.8 percent—double the current rate of 3.4 percent. That deadline has lawmakers scrambling for a fix. There are a bunch of proposals out there, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's call for students to be allowed to pay the low, low rate that big banks pay for short-term borrowing; a plan President Barack Obama laid out in his budget in April; and the GOP plan that just passed the House—a plan Obama hates. Whatever lawmakers and the president ultimately decide matters a lot. Over the past 25 years, the cost of going to college has spiked 440 percent. Since 2004, student loan debt in this country has tripled, and now stands close to $1 trillion. Check it out: Student Loan Debt Has Nearly Quadrupled Since 2003 Total student loan debt 51.000 $750 $250 - $0 1 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Source: Federal Reserve Bank of NewYork Page I 1 of 7 Mother Jones EFTA01121893