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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp brought together administrators from area colleges to focus on the increasing cost of higher education.

Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, helped provide long-term certainty to student loan rates and is working to address the skyrocketing price of a college degree.

Heitkamp says private loans typically have higher interest rates that can top 18 percent and are difficult to refinance and offer fewer payment options than loans administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

In July, Heitkamp helped pass the Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, The legislation allows students the ability to take advantage of historically low interest rates, while locking in the rates for the life of the loan, and capping future rates.

VCSU President Dr. Steve Shirley, Mayville State University President Dr. Gary Hagen, and Jamestown College President Dr. Robert Badal gave their input on these issues to Senator Heitkamp on the Valley City State University campus on August 15.

Last year, outstanding student loan debt reached more than $1 trillion and 81 percent of the undergraduates with high student debt had private loans.