On Friday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) filed a bill that would require universities to encourage students to take out the maximum in federal loans before taking out private loans, according to Bloomberg.

Rohit Chopra, student loan ombudsman with the CFPB, said in written testimony that private student loans are more risky for students than federal loans, and the private loan industry is similar to the subprime mortgage industry.

Chopra will call for more refinancing options because many private loans don’t give borrowers many options if they cannot find a job after college. He will tell Congress that many private loan companies did not expect the amount of delinquency when initially giving loans before the credit crisis in 2008, and now many expect a high number of borrowers to not be able to repay their loans. 

In Iowa, the Project on Student Debt reports that 72 percent of graduates have student debt and on average owe almost $30,000. Iowa ranks third-highest in the nation for student debt, according to the group.

“Even some of the most responsible borrowers — those who may be making significant sacrifices to make payments on their private student loans — have sought help to better manage their debt burden,” according to Chopra’s testimony. “Despite a significant change in the interest rate environment, we see that many borrowers feel stuck in high interest rates and high monthly payments, because they cannot easily refinance.”