A Senate vote to restore low interest rates temporarily on some new federal student loans failed to advance yesterday, July 10, increasing the odds that college students will rack up additional debt due to Beltway inaction.

Supporters had hoped to restore the 3.4 percent rate of interest on subsidized Stafford loans, or loans made to undergraduate students from moderate- and low-income households, that had prevailed for the last few years. The interest rate on new subsidized Stafford loans doubled to 6.8 percent on July 1, as previously scheduled. The proposal on Wednesday was supported by fifty-one senators and opposed by forty-nine, needing at least sixty votes in order to advance to a final vote.

Last night, Huff Post Live brought on student debt expert and author Cryn Johannsen to discuss the student interest rate debacle, which Johannsen skillfully turned into a much broader and deeper exploration of the student lending crisis.