During his campaign for the presidency, President Joe Biden made student loan forgiveness one of the core pillars of his campaign, but he was somewhat vague on the details. Now, two years into his presidency, Biden has yet to make a move on student debt. Meanwhile, the student loan system continues to draw in teen borrowers in need of funding for college, and this year's borrowers are in for some bad news.

Student loans operate on fixed interest rates, meaning the rate set when the loan was taken out will remain the same until the loan is paid off. It's a well-recognized fact that, even after a student loan borrower pays off the amount that they borrowed initially, many continue to face monthly payments because of their loans' accumulated interest.

Each year, the interest rates that will be applied to upcoming federal student loans are re-calculated based on the auction of 10-year Treasury notes in May.

This year, the rate that students will pay has increased from 3.73% to 4.99%. While this is slightly less than the expected increase to 5.1%, it is still significant. At 4.99%, borrowers who take out loans this year will pay $400 more in interest over the course of ten years on a $5,500 loan compared to last year's borrowers.

Several sites offer loan calculators, including Bankrate and SmartAsset.

$5,500 is the most a dependent undergrad can borrow during their first year, but parents and graduate students are likely to see an even bigger difference in their interest charges due to their higher cap on loans. Along with being able to borrow more, adult borrowers are also subject to higher interest rates and upfront costs.

For parents, interest rates have increased from 6.28% to 7.54%, also lower than the projected 7.66%. Graduate students will see their interest rates on federal loans increase from 5.28% to 6.54%, compared to a projected 6.66%.

In 2019, the average amount for Parent Plus loans was $14,000. The planned increase in interest rates would result in parents being charged roughly $1,090 more in interest over the course of ten years. Meanwhile, grad student federal loans are capped at $20,500, meaning borrowers who take out the maximum amount can expect to pay around $1,550 more in interest over ten years.

Parent borrowers are often left out of the conversation when it comes to education debt, but parents may actually be in an even worse situation. While loans for student borrowers are limited and regulated in an attempt to protect teen borrowers, the same is not so true for parents. Still, the rates and options available through federal lending programs far surpass the private lending market.

"Just remember, the federal student loan program is in large part making loans without any sort of credit check. Everybody gets the same terms. It's kind of no questions asked," Jason Delisle, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute, told NPR. Even with the increase, "the rate is going to be a lot lower than what you would get in the private market for a similar kind of loan - if you could even find something like it."

Many groups are calling on President Biden to take action to help more student loan borrowers.