President Obama participates in a roundtable discussion with students at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, followed by public remarks, on Wednesday, April 25.
Obama is on the last leg of his three-college-campus tour, aimed at recapturing the support of young voters and pressing Congress to prevent interest rates on federal student loans from doubling this summer.
Five university students, including two sophomores, two juniors and one senior, will get the chance to speak directly with the president before he delivers his campus-wide speech, according to the White House.
The president discussed his personal experience with college debt on Tuesday, telling a crowd of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that he only paid off his own student loans eight years ago.
“I just want everybody here to understand. I didn’t just read about this,” Obama said to roaring applause from students. “I didn’t just get some talking points about this. I didn’t just get a policy briefing on this.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters en route to Iowa City that the president has always enjoyed meeting with students at universities across the country.
“Young Americans have enormous amounts of enthusiasm and hope and energy about their own personal futures, about the country’s future, there’s no question — and anxiety about their futures and the economy," said Carney, according to pool reports. "That’s why you get involved in politics, because it’s as much about the future as the present day … I think the president feels that especially keenly when he’s meeting with younger Americans."
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—This event has concluded.
