The Obama Campaign:

President Obama understands how tough it is for recent college graduates, and he’s fighting every day to make sure they have a fair shot at succeeding in a 21st century economy. He and the First Lady know what it’s like to need loans in the first place and then to carry them into their careers – they finished paying off their own student loans only eight years ago.

The President believes higher education shouldn’t be a luxury – it’s an economic necessity for every American. That’s why he cut big banks out of the student loan system and cracked down on the Wall Street recklessness that led to the economic crisis, putting an end to taxpayer-funded bank bailouts. His student loan reform lowers the cost of federal student loans and lets students repay their loans as a fixed percentage of their income. As long as people make their monthly payments on time, any remaining debt will be forgiven after 20 years – 10 years if they become a teacher, a nurse or serve in the military. He’s also helping students pay for college now, so they can graduate with less debt in the first place. He created a college tax credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college and doubled funding for Pell Grant scholarships to help nearly 4 million more students pay for college.

In his speech at the Democratic National Convention, President Obama set a real, concrete goal of cutting tuition and fee growth in half over the next 10 years – which would save the typical student thousands of dollars a year – and outlined his plan to achieve it. He’ll create incentives for states, colleges, and universities to put in place the best plans and reforms to hold down costs and take away institutional funding from those that fail to do so.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would let Wall Street write its own rules again and repeal the President’s student loan reforms, going back to giving big banks more than $60 billion in taxpayer dollars to act as federal student loan middle men. He’d also cut Pell Grant scholarships and let the college tax credit expire. Romney criticized financial aid and told students to “borrow money from your parents” to go to college or start a business, and Ryan tells students they should work three jobs instead of getting college aid. The risks of the Romney-Ryan ticket are real, and the stakes for young people are especially high in this election. Their policies wouldn’t just hurt students and working families; they’d hurt our ability to grow our economy.

This election is personal, and there is simply too much at stake for young people sit on the sidelines. Young people need to keep fighting for the President to protect the progress we’ve made and keep moving this country forward. From passing Obamacare so young Americans can stay on their parents’ insurance until they turn 26, to passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to ending the Iraq war, to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, to investing in clean energy and education, President Obama is laying the foundation for long-term growth for this generation, and for generations to follow. Now isn’t the time to go backward – we have to keep moving forward.