The student loan interest rate doubled overnight for college students who plan to take out loans this fall.

Subsidized Stafford federal loan interest rates rose from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. These loans are for undergraduates who have financial need. Interest does not accumulate on these loans until the student is no longer in college, which makes them the most favorable federal loan for students.

There are several proposals floating around the Senate right now to try and reverse what happened at midnight Monday. On July 10, the Senate will vote on a proposal that could keep the 3.4 percent interest rate for one more year.

If that proposal passes, the bill will undo the damage already done; if not, student loan interest rates will double. 

Congress’s Joint Economic Committee estimated the cost to students would be approximately $2,600.

The Senate failed to pass two bills that would have prevented increases in federal student loan rates in June. 

The Republican proposal would have prevented loan interest rates from doubling and tied future rate increases to market-based rates. The Democratic proposal was a more short-term solution and would have kept the current interest rates the same for the next two years. 

Iowa State Government of the Student Body president Spencer Hughes sent a letter to send to Iowa senators and congressmen in June urging them to agree on a solution.

An attempt at a bipartisan agreement fell through last week, and a promise to agree on a solution after the July Fourth holiday was made instead.

Total student loan debt in the U.S. currently over $1 trillion.