President Barack Obama held a conference call yesterday afternoon with college students from around the nation to speak about the costs of higher education. From aboard Air Force One, he explained the importance of maintaining current interest rates on student loans in a changing economy.
"We're going to schools to talk to students directly about the critical importance of the possibility that 7.3 million students with loans would see rates double in July unless Congress does what it needs to do," Obama said.
The current interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans - the most common fixed-rate loan for college students, according to the Stafford loans website - will expire July 1.
Obama said current interest rates could be extended beyond July if there was bipartisan Congressional cooperation.
During the call, Cecilia Munoz, White House director of Intergovernmental Affairs, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made "important progress" as one of the first Republicans to support maintaining the current interest rate.
The conference call took place while the president was flying from the University of North Carolina to the University of Colorado, universities where he is speaking to students about the affordability of higher education. He is set to speak today at the University of Iowa.
Geoff Skelley, University Center for Politics spokesperson, said those universities were most likely chosen because they are located in what are considered "swing" states for Obama's reelection effort against likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
"Last election, North Carolina went for the president by a few tenths of a point," Skelley said. "Iowa and Colorado voted for him more but still are considered 'swing states.'"
Obama said his personal experiences with paying off student loans made providing affordable higher education important to him.
"When Michelle and I graduated from college and law school, it took us a lot of years to pay off debt, so this is why I feel so personally [about this issue]," Obama said. "For working families, the idea of this much money means education is simply out of reach to students."
Munoz predicted efforts to make higher education more affordable would benefit the economy as a whole, as it would increase the United States' level of global economic competitiveness.
"We know students who complete a college education make twice what those who don't [complete a college degree] earn," Munoz said. "As we continue to create jobs, we are bringing on more jobs that require important skills and a college education."
Obama said higher education should be available to a large proportion of American society.
"American higher education can't be a luxury," Obama said, "it's an imperative."
Skelley said Obama's demonstrated concern for youth issues will benefit him politically.
"The coalition Obama put together to win [the 2008 election] was reliant on minority groups and young people," Skelley said. "I think he'll try to aim to get the same people to come out and vote for him again."
Skelley said the political atmosphere has changed since 2008, but the votes of young adults will be just as crucial to securing Obama's reelection as they were four years ago.
"I think we'd be surprised if Obama didn't win the majority of young voters, but it might be tough for him to get 66 percent of it again," Skelley said. "I think he'll clearly be aiwming to run up a margin because he won two-thirds of the 19-29 year old demographic [in 2008]"
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