Colleges might cheer an increased federal focus on access and affordability -- the last political campaign to incorporate college issues, in 2006, led to an expansion of Pell Grants and lower interest rates on student loans. But for higher education, there is a potential downside. The more politicians worry about student debt, the more likely it is that their attention will turn from federal financial aid programs to what many see as the root of the problem: the rising tuition charged by colleges themselves. In recent months, organizations dealing with student debt have seen not a gradually rising tide of public consciousness but a sudden, overwhelming wave.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/03/how-student-debt-became-focus-presidential-campaign
