House OKs Variable Rate Student Loans  05/23 12:36

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. House says student loans' interest rates should 
be pegged to the financial markets.

   The House on Thursday passed a bill that would tie interest rates to 10-year 
Treasury bills. The measure would head off a doubling of interest rates on 
subsidized Stafford student loans come July 1. But the bill faces a veto threat 
from President Barack Obama.

   The bill would offer college students a better rate at first but the rates 
could climb in coming years.

   Democrats say there is no support for the bill in the Senate that they 
control and are urging lawmakers to extend the current 3.4 percent interest 
rates for two more years.


(KA)