College students could find relief fromtheir student loans if a new bill – passed bythe U.S. House of Representatives earlierthis month – is signed into law.

The bill, the College Student Relief Actcould not have come at a better time for students who are facing fee increases – but the bill should be taken at face value.

Craig Yamamoto, director of financial aid at Sacramento State, said that while thelowering of the rates is a positive development for students, they should not confuse the new rate with the amount of aid they should expect to receive.

“This would save students money who have to borrow student loans in terms of the interest on these loans during repayment,”Yamamoto said.

Students must be patient with the benefitsof the bill, which will come during the repayment phase of loans, Yamamoto said.

Rachel Shetka, who graduated from Sac State in 2005 with a degree in government, and works for Assemblyman Fabian Nunez, saidthat she, like many students, looks forward to the possibility of lower rates so that students can focus on beginning their lives after they graduate from school.

“This bill will help students pay off their debt sooner and thus leave them less dependent on living so many of their first years out of school on credit,” Shetka said.

The bill aims at cutting the interest rate in half from 6.8 to 3.4 percent over the next four years.

Michelle Tyler, who is a junior psychology major at Sac State said she believes this bill can only benefit students.

“I believe that the more educated people that we have, the better our economy will be for many reasons, including a decrease in crime and social spending,” Tyler said.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the bill was one of the steps that the House were going to take as a part of its plan to make the lives of America’s students a lot easier.

“Today’s bipartisan vote to cut the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans over the next five years will help make a college education more affordable andmore accessible for our next generationof leaders and innovaters,” Pelosi said, in an e-mail.

Pelosi also said that at a time when the cost of getting an education continues to skyrocket, this crucial bill will help remove some of the barriers to receiving a higher education.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, explained that the goal of the College Student Relief Act is to specifically target the students who have the need for loans for school, so that they can receive some relieffrom the burden of paying these loans back.

“This bill is designed to make college more affordable and accessible by cutting the interest rate on subsidized student loans for undergraduates in half over the next five years,” Hammill said.

California Assemblyman Anthony Portino, 44th district in Southern California is trying to pass similar law in California to help students with their bills for college.

Portino said that, here in California, people are struggling to find a way to make college as accessible for people as possible.

“The Governor recently proposed increasing student fees by 10 percent at the CSUs, which would make this year the fifth fee increase in six years for CSU students,” Portino said.

“I am going to work with my colleagues in the state Legislature to protect our students and families, and develop a plan to make any future fee increases planned and predicable,” he said.

Philip Malan can be reached [email protected]