NEW YORK STATE – There is some good news for college students as it looks like student loan rates are going down.

Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand announced that interest rates on need based federal loans will drop from 6.8 percent to 6 percent on July 1st. That will gradually reduce interest rates in half until they reach 3.4 percent in 2011. Once the interest rate cuts are phased in, the typical student borrower in New York will save $4,570.

The automatic decrease was part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which Congress passed last year. The act is the largest increase in student aid since the GI Bill.