Last year, the U.S. Congress approved, with my strong support, and the President signed into law a measure making the single largest investment in college financial aid since the 1944 GI Bill, helping millions of students and families pay for college. Among its many provisions, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act provides for cutting in half the interest rates on need-based federal student loans by 2011, and on July 1, the first phase of this rate cut becomes effective, cutting interest rates on student loans from 6.8% to 6.1% and making loans more affordable for low and middle income students.

Under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the interest rates for student loans will continue to decrease until they reach 3.4% in 2011. Once fully phased in, this interest rate cut will save the typical student borrower with $13,800 in student loan debt an average of $4,400 over the life of the loan.

In addition to the interest rate cut, in the 2008-2009 academic year, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act will increase the Pell Grant scholarship by $490, raising the maximum award to $4,731, and providing up-front tuition assistance of $4,000 each year for students who commit to teaching high-need subjects in high-need public schools upon graduation.

Families and individuals today too often face tremendous financial burdens in order to pay the costs of a higher education, and for too many a higher education is simply unaffordable. Yet in today’s global economy, a college degree is more important to one’s success than ever before and constitutes an essential starting point for many career choices and vocations. For these reasons, one of my highest priorities is making college more affordable for Southwest Virginia’s students.

Throughout my service in Congress I have strongly supported measures to increase federal funding for student loan and grant programs. I was pleased to support the College Cost Reduction Act last year, and I am now pleased that the first cut in the student loan interest rate becomes effective July 1.

Rick Boucher is Congressman for the 9th District of Virginia, which includes the New River Valley. You can catch his Capitol Commentary regularly on