The combination of record low interest rates, increased government subsidies to borrowers and greater tax deductibility of student loan interest help to make student loans more affordable than at any other time in the history of the student loan program. Interest rates on student loans are the lowest of any credit instruments available to the general public. These low interest rates, combined with the fact that any student, irrespective of credit history, can obtain a federal student loan at the same rate of interest as any other student, indicate that student loans are good investments in the future.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Education recently reported that although students today borrow, on average, $10,000 more during their postsecondary careers than did students fifteen years ago, the total interest cost to students with higher student loan balances today would be practically the same as a student borrowing less money in 1987 due to lower interest rates on federal student loans.