A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives promises to increase limits in school loans, but some students fear it may make their loans significantly more expensive.

Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., introduced his higher education bill, the “Access and Equity in Higher Education Act,” last Thursday. The bill calls for an increase in borrowing limits, a variable rate for consolidation loans and loan forgiveness for those in public service jobs.

“Under my bill, people will pay back their loans based on a percentage of their income, instead of a flat rate everyone pays,” Andrews said. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to make a lawyer pay more than somebody earning $30,000 a year.”

Critics say the bill will eliminate students’ ability to lock in low, fixed interest rates on consolidation loans, said Rebecca Wasserman, president of the United States Student Association in a printed statement. Currently, student borrowers can lock in rates as low as 2.88 percent. If the bill passes, variable rates are expected to rise.

If fixed interest rate are eliminated, the average student borrower would pay $5,500 more in interest costs during the life of a loan repayment, according to the Congressional Research Service.

“Big lenders and banks are pressuring Congress to roll back the fixed interest rate in consolidation so that lenders can charge higher variable rates, avoid the fees that consolidation lenders must pay, and protect their student loan portfolios from the consolidation market,” Wasserman said.

Chris Justice, an ISU alumnus living in Prairie Village, Kan., who graduated in 1999, recently paid off his $30,000 school loan. He said changing interest rates wouldn’t have changed his financial situation significantly.

“[With higher interest rates], it would have taken longer to pay off my loans, but I would still have taken the same amount of money out,” he said. “It wouldn’t make a huge difference.”

The bill won’t help every student. Andrews acknowledged the bill would increase interest costs, but he said those who will pay more money aren’t in a budget crunch.

“Fifty percent of subsidies of the current loan consolidation program go to people who have graduate or professional degrees,” he said. “If you have to choose between that group and a freshman who’s borrowing thousands of dollars, I’ll help out the one who’s the neediest.”

Andrews said it wasn’t realistic to promise students an increase in borrowing limits while maintaining the same interest rate in loans.

“In politics, it’s fashionable to promise everything to everyone, but under the budget we have now, it’s not realistic to promise both,” he said.