 student loan rates double july 1 interest rates on federally subsidized student loans double today because congress was unable to come up with a solution house republicans wanted to link the rate to the financial markets instead of letting the congress set the rate senate democrats wanted to leave the rate at 34 the president proposed a variation on the marketbased approach in his budget that was sent to congress this spring no agreement was reached before the current rate expired for further information see  wwwfoxnewscom politics 20130701 studentloanratesdoubleascalendarturnstojuly   student loan rates double july 1  