College students and their families are facing even greater obstacles in paying for an already almost out-of-reach college education after a minority of Senate Republicans this week blocked a bill that would have kept federal student loan interests rates from doubling.

Meanwhile a recent AFT report “On the Backs of Students and Their Families” finds:

For far too many American families higher education is no longer affordable. We are a nation rich in opportunities yet saddled with mountains of debt….Too many of students begin the post educational life already underwater. Yet without higher education, Americans are faced with a selection of low-wage jobs and higher rates of unemployment.

The defeat of a one-year extension of 3.4% interest rates for Stafford loans for low and moderate income students came less than a week after Congress failed to act to prevent the interest from jumping to 6.8%.  That rate could cost the average student an extra $4,000 to gain a degree.

Most House and Senate Republicans want to tie the interest rates to financial markets with no cap on the rate for the life of the loan. Says AFT President Randi Weingarten:

For a growing number of students, loans have become the primary or only means of paying for college. For many people, this slams the door on their hope of pursuing a college education.

In a joint statement AFT, the United States Student Association and several other groups said:

The only thing worse would have been for Congress to adopt one of the long-term proposals, which would cost students even more than letting rates double to 6.8%, and/or eliminate the cap on how high rates can rise. A bad permanent deal would be even worse for students, families and the economy than today's outcome.

Adding to the difficulty students and their families face with higher interest, the report points out that state appropriations per full-time equivalent student enrollment stood at a 25-year inflation-adjusted low in 2010 and declined further in 2011. That means, according to the report:

• Fewer resources to help increase student access to and completion of college studies;
• Particularly tough financial challenges for community colleges, which are the most under-resourced institutions yet serve more low-income students;
• Radical changes in the academic workforce, as colleges increasingly rely on contingent and adjunct faculty—who now make up more than 70% of the instructional corps; and
• Increased reach of the often exploitative practices of for-profit education providers, which are receiving a growing percentage of federal financial aid dollars.

Says Weingarten:

This lack of support for higher education makes it more and more difficult for middle-class students—and especially low-income and disadvantaged students—to afford college.

Read the full report.