By: Cody Nelson

Congressional inaction has led to the doubling of interest rates on the most common federal student loans.

Interest rates on Stafford loans jumped to 6.8 percent Monday after a slew of proposals and no agreement in Congress.

More than 14,300 University of Minnesota students took out subsidized Stafford loans in 2012, collectively worth about $54.7 million. Without action from Congress, University students taking out the loan to help pay for school this fall will pay twice the interest rate of last year.

In 2012, 64 percent of University graduates finished school with debt, owing a median amount of $27,334.

The Associated Press reports Congress will look to strike a deal extending current interest rates another year when lawmakers return from their Independence Day vacation next week.

The potential legislation would be retroactive so any loans taken out after July 1 would get the 3.4 percent interest rate, but the deal faces a potential Republican filibuster in the Senate.

This is the second summer in a row where Congress has waited until July 1 to address the doubling of Stafford loan interest rates. Last year it passed an extension of the 3.4 percent rate before the deadline.