It is unfair, but the 3.28% rate is more the anomaly. Congress never expected interest rates on variable rate federal education loans to drop that low, which is one of the reasons why they passed the switch to fixed rates. If one ignores the unprecedented decreases in interest rates since 9/11, the overall average PLUS loan interest rate for variable rate loans was about 7.9%. A fixed rate of 8.5% is still rather good for unsecured debt. For example, Bankrate.com listed the interest rate on a $30,000 home equity loan at 8.8% fixed on June 9, 2009. The PLUS loan interest rate is lower despite the lack of collateral and is available to more borrowers.