The decision came on the heels of the expiration of last year’s law that kept federal subsidized Stafford loans, or direct subsidized loans, at 3.4 percent until July 1, 2013. Congress failed to reach an agreement and interest rates doubled.

Gallaudet University is the one of the premier institutions for deaf learning in the United States. Federally chartered in 1864, it is the only liberal arts university in the world designed specifically for the deaf and the hard of hearing. In fact, the university enjoys an international reputation for its outstanding programs and for the quality of the research it conducts on the history, language, culture and other topics related to people who are deaf.