Congress failed in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal on student loans. As a result, interest rates on some federal student loans doubled to nearly 7 percent on Monday.

Though millions of college students taking out new student loans this fall will see interest rates that are twice what they were this spring, they won’t really get hammered by the increase until they graduate.

Here are some key points to consider about the student loan rate increase as borrowers contemplate how to cope:

What federal students loans are impacted by the doubling of interest rates?

Not all federal student loans are impacted. Only rates on new, subsidized federal Stafford loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1. Rates on existing subsidized Stafford loans will remain at 3.4 percent. Rates on new and existing unsubsidized Stafford loans will remain at 6.8 percent. Rates on federal PLUS loans will stay the same as well, at 7.9 percent.

Radford University misspelled ‘Virginia’ on its 2013 diplomas, reports CNBC’s Brian Sullivan; and Sharon Epperson reports interest rates on federal student loans will jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent if Congress does not act.

The doubling of the interest rate may sound dramatic, but it does […]