Student loans are out of control, with an increasing amount of young people taking on hundreds of thousands of dollars of individual debt at a rate that outpaces their ability to earn.

Recently, Congress lowered the interest rate for federal loans to 3.86%, a relief for new students. But what about existing students with high interest loans?

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both New York Democrats, and several dozen other lawmakers in Congress are pushing legislation that would help the nearly 40 million other student loan holders in the country by allowing them to refinance at the 3.86 percent rate this year, without any fees.

Student loans are now the second largest form of debt in the US, just below mortgages and above credit cards.

It remains to be seen what Congress can do about retroactively lowering the debt rates. But with the enormous disparity between new loan interest rates and past loan interest rates, it’s clear that something needs to be done.