confronting cost

After doubling on July 1, student loan interest rates for millions of Americans will be restored to 3.86 percent.

President Barack Obama signed a student loan bill late Friday afternoon designed to keep interest rates low - at least for now - by tying them to the financial markets.

Economists predict the new rates for undergraduates will remain lower than expected in the coming years.

A deal that would tie student loan interest rates to the financial markets is heading to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

Meanwhile, a new report from Georgetown University released on Wednesday suggests higher education is exacerbating white racial privilege in America.

Researchers at Georgetown found that while it’s getting easier to access colleges and universities, at the same time racial polarization on campus is, in fact, growing.

For Jamal Aden’s parents, it was never a foregone conclusion that their son would go to college. The son of Somali refugees, Jamal was born in a Kenyan refugee camp. He says conditions were rough.

The U.S. Senate has reached an agreement on a bill that would tie student-loan interest rates to market-based rates. The deal comes just three weeks after interest rates doubled on July 1, concerning everyone from high school seniors to their parents.

Under the plan, interest rates would roll back to 3.8 percent. If the market goes up, student loan rates would go up, and they’d be capped at 8.25 percent for undergraduates and 9.5 percent for graduate students.

“To get it through Congress, we had to agree to a cap,” said Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, part of the bipartisan group of senators that supported the bill. Speaking on WGBH’s The Takeaway, Coburn said the deal would prevent any new taxpayer losses.

After a group of senators announced a deal on student loan interest rates last week, Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren continued to attack the plan on Monday that they say would create ‘outrageous profits’ for the federal government.

It was only his fifth day on the job, so you couldn’t blame Senator Ed Markey for trying to redirect questions about student loans to the senior senator from Massachusetts.

Looking over Marina Bay in Boston, Markey stood with Senator Warren during a press avail, and credited her for asking why the government is raking in billions of dollars on federally subsidized student loans.

College students may have dodged a bullet. Senators reached a tentative deal with President Obama Thursday that would roll back interest rates on new federal student loans.

The stalemate in Congress forced student loan interest rates to double on July 1. This new deal would cap rates at 8.25 percent for undergraduates and 9.5 percent for graduate students. It would also tie loans to market-based rates. So if interest rates go up, student loans would also go up.

The state will dole out $4.5 million to various Massachusetts workforce organizations, community colleges, tech schools, and career centers for skills training and workforce development, according to Governor Deval Patrick.

The grants will be used to train more than 850 job seekers in the healthcare, manufacturing, construction, early education, hotel and hospitality, and financial services fields, according to a press release.

College students today are struggling with the state of higher education. For instance, class size is up 25 percent in some courses on University of Massachusetts campuses. Then, with money tight, schools are adding administrators to their payrolls. And if paying tuition isn't tough enough for most students, they're forced to pay hundreds of dollars more in fees.

At UMass Boston, Patrick hosted a private roundtable discussion with UMass President Robert Caret and several students, including sociology student Farrah Bruny-Brown.

“Coming up with $600 extra is just another struggle," said Bruny-Brown. "It makes it hard because you lose focus when it comes to education when you have to pay the bills.”

Gov. Deval Patrick signed a $34 billion state budget on Friday, including more than $1 billion in higher education spending. That's nearly a 16 percent increase over last year.

Patrick approved the full $479 million appropriation for the University of Massachusetts, which means the system will freeze tuition and fees for students in the new academic year.

While most students have the summer off, Don Shepherd is getting ready for the fall. At Mass Bay Community College in Wellesley, Shepherd takes the elevator down to the basement.

He digs through cardboard boxes, stocking up on tote bags and other swag for incoming students.

“We’re expecting about 73 that are actually scheduled but then you always have the walk-ins,” Shepherd said.

Gov. Deval Patrick says he’d welcome a plan in Massachusetts that would allow students to attend state colleges and universities without paying tuition or loans out of pocket.

Last week, the Oregon legislature gave initial approval to a bill last week that would allow students to repay the state with a percentage of their future earnings.