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Once again, Congress is facing a time-sensitive “cliff” deadline: July 1, when rates on federally subsidized Stafford student loans will double should Congress fail to act.

If this cliff sounds familiar, it’s because we were at the same brink last year during the election. A last-minute compromise — reached because no candidate wanted to be tarred with an anti-student label — froze the interest rate at 3.4 percent. But that will go up to 6.8 percent July 1 unless the White House, House Republicans and Senate Democrats can agree on either another extension or a new formula for setting rates.