Student-loan borrowers cheered last month when the House voted to halve interest rates on federal loans. But don't start celebrating just yet.

The bill, called the College Student Relief Act of 2007, would reduce the current rate on subsidized Stafford loans from a fixed 6.8 percent to a fixed 3.4 percent over five years.

Subsidized Stafford loans are awarded based on financial need, and the federal government covers the interest while you're in school.

The loan's counterpart, the unsubsidized Stafford, is available to any student, and interest accrues while you study. It would continue to carry a 6.8 percent fixed rate.

"There's no question that the bill would help a lot of students," said Stephen Burd, a senior research fellow who covers financial-aid issues for the New America Foundation, a non-partisan public policy group, "especially when students are becoming increasingly indebted..."

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