After years of steady increases and record highs, federal student loan interest rates will finally soften this summer — making college slightly more affordable for student borrowers in the upcoming academic year.
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Here are the new 2025-26 federal student loan interest rates, according to a May 30 Education Department announcement, compared to 2024-25 rates:
Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduate students: 6.39%, down from 6.53%.
Direct unsubsidized loans for graduate students: 7.94%, down from 8.08%.
PLUS loans, available to parents and grad students to fill funding gaps: 8.94%, down from 9.08%.
This rate change becomes effective July 1, and it only affects students who take out new federal loans for the 2025-26 academic year. If you’re already repaying a federal student loan, your interest rate won’t change — it’s fixed based on when you originally borrowed.
How student loan interest rates impact college costs
Each May, the government sets federal student loan interest rates for the upcoming academic year based on the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note and including an “add-on percentage.” The result becomes the interest rate for new loans issued between July 1 and June 30 of the following academic year.
Here’s how that works in practice. The latest 10-year Treasury note yield was 4.342%, and the add-on percentage for direct undergraduate loans is 2.05%. Add the two together to get the new interest rate for direct undergraduate loans: 6.392%, rounded down to 6.39%.
The lower rates could save you money over the life of your loan — but not much.
For example, let’s say you take out a $12,500 direct loan, which is the maximum amount an undergraduate can borrow in a single year. At the previous 2024-25 interest rate of 6.53%, you’d pay about $4,555 worth of interest over a 10-year repayment term. That same loan taken out in 2025-26 at the new 6.39% interest rate costs you $4,448 over 10 years. It’s a small difference, but still dollars saved.
All borrowers get the same interest rate for each type of federal student loan in a given year, regardless of factors like income or credit score.
What about private student loan interest rates?
This news does not directly impact private student loans. Lenders set their interest rate ranges based on market conditions. Private student loans can come with fixed rates, like federal loans, or variable interest rates, which can change during repayment.
If you or a co-signer has a credit score at least in the high 600s, you might qualify for a lower interest rate with a private loan than a federal loan. Still, federal loans are a better choice for most borrowers, because they come with generous borrower protections, including income-driven repayment plans, payment relief programs and student loan forgiveness opportunities, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Private loans don’t offer these same features.
Generally, borrowers should only think about taking out private student loans if they still have cost gaps after they take out the maximum possible amount in federal student loans. Compare offers from multiple lenders to find the lowest interest rate.
Minimize borrowing to make college more affordable
Lower interest rates can make your college debt feel more manageable. Even so, you should do everything you can to minimize borrowing in the first place.
After filing the FAFSA, explore other strategies to limit borrowing. Consider all post-secondary options and compare financial aid letters. A community college or in-state institution can be significantly more affordable than a private or out-of-state school. Pick up a part-time job while you’re in school to cover some day-to-day expenses. If you take out unsubsidized student loans, make small interest-only payments while you’re in school to reduce your future bills.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man accused of using a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device to attack a group in Boulder, Colorado, that had gathered to bring attention to Israeli hostages in Gaza, has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to court documents filed Monday.
The suspect, Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, told police he planned it for a year and specifically targeted what he described as the “Zionist group,” the FBI said. Eight people were injured in the attack, some with burns, as a group was concluding their weekly demonstration to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza. Witnesses reported the man yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack.
An FBI affidavit says Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told the police he would do it again. The affidavit was released in support of a federal hate crime charged filed by the Justice Department on Monday.
Court records show Soliman was scheduled to appear in state court in Boulder at 1:30 p.m.
The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder, unfolded against the backdrop of a war between Israel and Hamas that continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack happened on the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is marked with the reading of the Torah and barely a week after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside of a Jewish museum in Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Monday saying he, his wife and the entire nation of Israel were praying for the full recovery of the people wounded in the “vicious terror attack” in Colorado.
Law enforcement officials dress up in protective gear to investigative an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Law enforcement officials dress in protective gear to investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Law enforcement officials dress up in protective gear to investigative an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country,” said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, which encompasses Boulder.
In New York, the police department said it upped its presence at religious sites throughout the city for Shavuot.
The eight victims who were wounded range in age from 52 to 88 and the injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said.
The attack occurred as people with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives was concluding their weekly demonstration to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza. Video from the scene shows a witness shouting, “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov cocktails,” as a police officer with his gun drawn advances on a bare-chested suspect who is holding containers in each hand.
Alex Osante of San Diego said he was having lunch on a restaurant patio across the pedestrian mall when he heard the crash of a bottle breaking on the ground and a “boom” sound followed by people yelling and screaming.
In video of the scene captured by Osante, people could be seen pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who Osante said had caught on fire during the attack. A man, who later identified himself as an Israeli visiting Boulder who decided to join the group that day, ran up to Osante on the video asking for some water to help.
This image provided by the Boulder Police Dept. shows Mohamed Sabry Soliman. (Boulder Police Dept. via AP)
Suspect reemerged after initial attack before being arrested
After the initial attack, Osante said the suspect went behind some bushes and then reemerged and threw a Molotov cocktail but apparently accidentally caught himself on fire as he threw it. The man then took off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before the police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without any apparent resistance in the video that Osante filmed.
Lynn Segal, 72, was among about 20 people who gathered Sunday. They had finished their march in front of the courthouse when a “rope of fire” shot in front of her and then “two big flares.”
She said the scene quickly turned chaotic as people worked to find water to put out flames and find help.
Law enforcement found more than a dozen unlit Molotov cocktails near where Soliman was arrested. The devices were made up of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of the them, the FBI said. Inside his car, law enforcement found papers with the words “Israel,” “Palestine,” and “USAID,” the affidavit says.
Soliman told investigators that he constructed homemade Molotov cocktails after doing research on YouTube and buying the ingredients. He drove to Boulder with the devices in his car and stopped along the way for gas, according to the affidavit.
He said in his interview that his goal was to “kill all Zionists,” the FBI said, and that he intentionally targeted the group and knew they they would be assembled on Sunday afternoon.
“He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,” the affidavit says.
The group that was attacked has said it was trying to raise attention to the plight of the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The map above highlights Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a crowd. (AP Digital Embed)
Authorities say they believe the suspect acted alone
Authorities said Sunday they believe Soliman acted alone and that no other suspect was being sought. No criminal charges were immediately announced but officials said they would move to hold Soliman accountable. He was also injured and was taken to the hospital to be treated. Authorities did not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, but a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear.
State and federal authorities planned to hold a news conference Monday afternoon.
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What we know about the suspect and victims in the Boulder, Colorado, attack
Soliman was living in the U.S. illegally after having entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. McLaughlin said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023 that had expired. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.
Public records listed Soliman as living in a modest rented townhouse in Colorado Springs, where local media outlets reported federal law enforcement agents were on the scene Sunday.
Shameka Pruiett knew Soliman and his family as kindly neighbors with five children, three young kids and two teenagers, who’d play with Pruiett’s kids in front of their building, share food and hellos. But she said when she saw Soliman on video in Boulder, shirtless and holding bottles with flames licking up the grass in front of him, it was hard to recognize him.
“There had to be something deeply disturbing him, cause that is not the guy we see in the neighborhood,” said Pruiett, leaning on her doorframe and gazing several feet away at Soliman’s apartment. Soliman had never been outwardly political, she said, “he didn’t push his views or values on anyone.”
On Sunday, Pruiett saw law enforcement vehicles waiting on the street throughout the day until the evening, when they spoke through a megaphone telling anyone in Soliman’s home to come out. Nobody came out, and it did not appear anyone was inside, said Pruiett. The raid lasted several hours, she said.
An online resume under Soliman’s name said he was employed by a Denver-area health care company working in accounting and inventory control, with prior employers listed as companies in Egypt. Under education, the resume listed Al-Azhar University, a historic center for Islamic and Arabic learning located in Cairo.
FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism and the Justice Department denounced it as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans.”
“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on X.
Israel’s war in Gaza began when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 people in Hamas-run Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. The offensive has destroyed vast areas, displaced around 90% of the population and left people almost completely reliant on international aid.
The violence comes four years after a shooting rampage at a grocery store in Boulder, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Denver, that killed 10 people. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison for murder after a jury rejected his attempt to avoid prison time by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.
Multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall area were evacuated by police. The scene shortly after the attack was tense, as law enforcement agents with a police dog walked through the streets looking for threats and instructed the public to stay clear of the mall.
Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Brittany Peterson and David Zalubowski in Boulder, Colorado; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Biesecker in Washington and Jim Mustian in New York contributed to this report.
CAIRO (AP) — Iranian, Egyptian and U.N. leaders met in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency in a confidential report said Iran is further increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
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The report emerged amid U.S.-Iran talks aimed at attempting to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting some of the crushing economic sanctions that the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, which have strained relations for almost 50 years.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said the agency compiled its report, seen by The Associated Press over the weekend, because Iranian’s uranium enrichment is an ongoing concern for the IAEA’s board of governors.
Grossi said they hoped the report would provide “an incentive for a peaceful solution and a diplomatic solution.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Grossi as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
IAEA expresses ‘serious concern’
The confidential IAEA report raised a warning, saying Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material,” something the agency said was of “serious concern.”
The IAEA report said that Iran, as of May 17, had amassed 900.8 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60%. That is an increase of almost 50% since the IAEA’s last report in February. The 60% enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran’s leadership has said it believes the IAEA report is politically motivated by Grossi’s hopes of becoming the next U.N. secretary-general.
Grossi is attempting to attract the votes of several members of the U.N. Security Council with the report, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, told the official IRNA news agency late Sunday.
“He basically has chosen a political attitude, and this political attitude has led the environment to be more political rather that technical,” Eslami said.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected many of the report’s findings. Gharibabadi noted on Sunday that out of the IAEA’s 682 inspections of 32 states, 493 were carried out in Iran alone.
“So long as a country’s nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s monitoring, there is no cause for concern,” he said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.”
Questions about US transparency
Iran is concerned that the U.S. hasn’t provided enough transparency about what Iran can gain from the talks, Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Monday.
“It must be crystal clear to us that how the unfair sanctions against the Iranian nation will be removed,” Baghaei said.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who is mediating in the U.S.-Iran talks, visited Tehran on Saturday to present Washington’s latest proposal for ongoing discussions. The fifth round of talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Rome last week with “some but not conclusive progress,” al-Busaidi said at the time.
Araghchi said Monday that Iran will reply to the U.S. approach soon, but there will be no agreement unless Iran’s right to enrichment is respected.
“If the purpose of the talks is to attain trust that Islamic Republic of Iran will never go after nuclear weapons, I think an agreement is fully achievable,” Araghchi said. “But if there are unreasonable and unreal purposes, if the aim is depriving Iran from having peaceful activities, we will never accept any agreement.”
Sunday afternoon’s attack in Boulder, Colorado, took place hours before the start of a major Jewish festival, Shavuot.
Authorities say a man used a flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into a group holding one of its regular rallies in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza. Eight people were injured, some with burns.
Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
What is Shavuot?
Shavuot (pronounced Shah-voo-OTE), Hebrew for “weeks,” has been observed since biblical times. It marks the passing of seven weeks (49 days) from the holiday of Passover, with Shavuot falling on the 50th day.
In biblical times, Shavuot was an agricultural festival, when Israelites would bring harvest offerings to the temple.
Today, it’s primarily commemorated as the traditional date on which God gave the Torah — the law that forms the heart of the Jewish Scriptures — to Moses on Mount Sinai, as described in the Bible.
The 50-day time period gives the festival its Greek name, Pentecost, which is also the name for a holy day on the Christian calendar.
When is Shavuot?
Shavuot falls on the 6th of Sivan on the Jewish calendar, which reckons days as beginning at sundown. This year, Shavuot began Sunday evening and continues for one or two days, depending on tradition.
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For Jews inside Israel and for Reform Jews, the festival lasts for one day. Other traditions outside of Israel observe Shavuot for two days, ending Tuesday evening this year. (The variation stems from different traditions on when to observe lunar holidays, which historically were based on moon observations in ancient Israel.)
Shavuot typically falls in May or June on the Gregorian calendar.
How is Shavuot observed?
Jews celebrate with readings of the biblical book of Exodus, including the Ten Commandments. Some mark the occasion with all-night readings from the Torah and other religious texts. Observant Jews refrain from work on Shavuot. The biblical book of Ruth, about a woman who embraces the Jewish faith, is often read and studied.
Shavuot celebrations are often marked by the consumption of dairy products, such as cheesecake and cheese-filled blintzes. Explanations for this tradition vary; one is that the Torah is like nourishing milk for the spirit.
Reform Judaism has traditionally connected Shavuot to its rite of confirmation for teens, in which they affirmed their commitment to Jewish life.
Somber observances
Tragically, this year’s Shavuot is not the first time in recent memory that Jews have marked a normally festive holiday in grim circumstances.
Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, claiming about 1,200 lives, took place on Simchat Torah, a date when Jews celebrate the completion of their year-long cycle of Torah readings.
Sunday’s gathering in Boulder was to raise attention for the 58 hostages, around a third believed to be alive, who are still being held by Hamas.
Sources: “What is a Jew?” by Rabbis Morris N. Kertzer and Lawrence A. Hoffman; Chabad.org; ReformJudaism.org; Jewish Agency for Israel; JCC Association of North America.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
