FEDERAL DEFICITS COULD DRIVE UP STUDENT LOAN COSTS A Conference Board study warns that rising U.S. deficits can push up interest rates and make student loans more expensive. For a hypothetical student borrowing $75,000, lower deficits could reduce lifetime payments by about $14,000. In an extreme one-week government default scenario, payments could rise by roughly $44,000. Americans now owe about $1.87 trillion in federal and private student debt.(*Walter Bloomberg)