CNBNews

    -- Effective this January, if you're someone who has different kinds of loans -- guaranteed and direct -- you'll be able to roll them both into one direct loan and bring down your interest rate. You'll only have to write one check a month, and you'll see a discount. This switch adds no cost to taxpayers across the board.

    -- You might remember that, as part of last year's student loan reform, borrowers' loan payments could be no higher than 10 percent of their disposable income. This is a big deal -- but it wasn't going to help anyone enrolling before 2014. Today, the President announced that he's speeding up this program so it will affect students next year -- helping over 1 million students. This will have huge consequences for people struggling to make their student loan payments.

Sometimes, it can be hard to see how policy changes will actually affect your day-to-day life.

Not the case with this one. These changes will make a real difference in helping millions of Americans get by month to month.

 

President Obama isn't waiting on Congress to take action. He's doing everything in his power, right now, to help bolster our economy and get folks back on their feet.

On Monday, he laid out new rules on federal mortgages to help make sure more families don't lose their homes to foreclosure.

On Tuesday, the administration announced two new initiatives to help veterans find work.

Today, it means making changes that make student loans a lot easier to manage.

These are actions that can't wait on the next vote or the next election. So long as people are struggling, this President and this administration will do everything in their power to help them when and where they can. It's just that simple.

Now, let's make sure that the millions of people who stand to benefit from today's steps know about it.

James Kvaal, Policy Director Obama for America