Congresswoman Suzan DelBene will join local college students and college administrators to call on Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling in July.

DelBene will participate in a round table discussion at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Rose Room at the University of Washington Bothell campus, UW1 building, 18115 Campus Way NE in Bothell.

In 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, lowering the student loan rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over a four-year period and easing the burden on thousands of students and families. The lower interest rate was extended for one year in 2012, and is now set to expire on July 1.

Allowing the interest rate to double will cost students and their families thousands of dollars, imposing considerable financial barriers on young people as they enter the workforce.

DelBene is co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the existing sunset and maintain the low interest rate for two years, providing Congress time to work on a long-term solution to slow the rapid accumulation of student-loan debt.

Last week, the House passed H.R. 1911, a bill that would actually make college loans more expensive than if interest rates were simply allowed to double. House leadership also refused to allow DelBene’s legislation a vote on the floor.

The debate now goes to the Senate where it is expected that H.R. 1911 will be rejected and could be replaced with the Senate companion bill to DelBene’s.