Students complaining about tuition increases should be aware of the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Depending on the reconciliation of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives' adjustments to the act after considering lobbyists' recommendations, Penn State students could be stuck with high interest rates on their student loans after they graduate.

However, students might also be able to borrow more in the next few years if Congress raises the loan limit.

In 1986, Congress created the loan consolidation program to make it easier for college students to repay tuition loans.

By consolidating multiple loans into one account, students can secure a fixed interest rate, which allows them to avoid fluctuating, increasing interest rates.

"Now, record-low, long-term interest rates are an attractive opportunity for graduates to lock in fixed-rate consolidation loans," said Fritz Elmendorf, vice president of communications at the Consumer Bankers Association.

Most recent Penn State graduates entered the work force with more than $17,000 of debt, said Melissa Kunes, director of federal and state aid program at Penn State.

For the 2001-2002 school year, 39,965 Penn State students had loans. Of those borrowers, 2,200 were graduate students.

"Most statistics are pulled together using all federal loan types," she said, noting data from Federal Stafford Loan and Perkins Loan programs are included.

A student's new fixed interest rate is based on the proportional average of the rates of the accounts being combined and can be repaid over 30 years, Elmendorf said.

The loan consolidation program is part of the Higher Education Act. At the core of the act is the Pell Grant Program, which is directed toward the neediest students, said Marty Guthrie, spokesperson for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Every five or six years, the Higher Education Act is reauthorized, Guthrie said. Anyone can make a recommendation for Congress to consider while the act is being revised, she said.

Groups of lenders and student groups have the most at stake and are among the loudest voices making suggestions each time reauthorization becomes an issue.

The amount of debt a Penn State graduate will have in the future depends on the availability of the loan consolidation program as well as the overall cost of tuition, which usually is raised every year.

When consolidation loans were initiated, the idea was that students had multiple lenders and upon graduation would consolidate those loans with a fixed interest rate, Elmendorf said.

Penn State's tuition for 2002-2003 was $8,008 for full-time in-state students -- a 13.5 percent increase from last year. Out-of-state students were billed $17,236 for the 2002-2003 semesters.

On March 24, President Graham Spanier will voice Penn State's need to the state government's appropriations committees, who will decide how much to allocate for the upcoming school year, said Penn State spokeswoman Amy Neil. "[Tuition] won't be set in stone until June," Neil said.