Updated: Monday, July 1 at 2:05 p.m.

It’s about to get more expensive to borrow from the federal government.

Interest rates for new government-backed loans will jump to 6.8 percent — double the current rate — starting Monday after lawmakers failed to strike a deal before adjourning for the July 4th recess.

The loans have been a key debate on Capitol Hill this year as both parties seek compromises on the rates, which impact about 7 million students nationwide.  About 45 percent of GW students took out federal student loans last academic year.

Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Planning Forrest Maltzman called federal loans “an important cornerstone of federal financial aid.”

“Curtailing this is neither good for our students or the country,” he said.

House Republicans passed a bill that would tie the federal Stafford loan to market rates and end the subsidized version of the loan, though the Senate criticized that the plan offered no cap for the loan rates.

Subsidized Stafford loans would float each year at a rate 2.5 percent higher than the market price of the 10-year Treasury note. That rate would increase to 4 percent next summer and 7.7 percent in 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Senate Democrats hoped to extend the 3.4 percent rate for two more years.

Last year, lawmakers extended the subsidized rate just two days before the July 1 deadline after Republicans succumbed to pressure from President Barack Obama and Democrats.

Students would not be hit with the higher interest rate until the loans are disbursed a few days before the start of the semester, Maltzman said.

Congress could still reach a deal after the July 1 deadline as most students sign their loan agreements in August.

But lawmakers must act fast as members adjourn August 2 for a month-long recess.