(COLUMBIA, Mo., AP) — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill is promoting a plan to cut interest rates on federally subsidized student loans.

The Democratic senator planned to meet Thursday afternoon with University of Missouri students in Columbia about the proposed Bank on Student Loans Fairness Act. The bill seeks to reduce the current interest rate of 3.4 percent on subsidized Stafford loans to 0.75 percent for one year.

McCaskill and her co-sponsor, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, say the lower rate is on par with a discounted, short-term rate offered to banks by the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. House voted last week in favor of variable student loan interest rates to avoid an automatic increase to 6.8 percent on July 1.