Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, President Obama directed the national conversation to education and the fact that Mitt Romney is out of touch with what the burdens are for paying for a college education for one’s children. This is in response to Romney’s past statements about college education policies in which he advised students to “borrow” from their parents or “shop around” for the best deal. The best deal must mean finding a college that is in your hometown with low tuition and a lot of used books.

"That's his plan. That's his answer to young people who are trying to figure out how to go to college and make sure that they don't have a mountain of debt," Obama said at Capital University in Columbus. "Not everybody has parents who have the money to lend. That may be news to some folks," according to an AP report.

Young voters tend to be moderates and were a factor in the 2008 campaigning strategies, and the Obama team wants to capitalize on winning their favor again in 2012.
Democrats contend that Ryan's budget proposal, which failed to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, would cut $115 billion from the Education Department, costing a million college students their Pell Grants over the next decade. Democrats argue those moves would punish many middle class and low-income families trying to gain an education for their children.

Those estimates, however, assume the cuts in Ryan's budget are applied evenly across all programs starting in 2014 — something Ryan aides say would not happen. His budget does not directly address Pell Grant funding, and his aides say the cuts would not take a one-size-fits-all approach.
Ryan, who prefers that students take loans instead of receiving grants, would keep the top Pell Grant award in the coming school year at $5,500 but in future years reduce the number of students eligible, not the award sums. In other words, fewer students would receive them but the neediest would not see their awards changed.
More than 9.7 million students are expected to get grants for the academic year that is about to begin.
Republicans do not want to address the issues raised regarding Pell Grants
In this youtube video a student confronts California Rep. Dan Lungren (R) at a town hall meeting regarding the changes in Pell Grants. She asked pertinent questions, and the congressmen ignored her and never answered her question.

It was the second town hall meeting by Lungren the University of the Pacific senior had attended this week. Both times Duclos got up to the mic and asked her congressman why he voted to cut Pell grants, a vital program for poorer students like herself who want to attend college. Both times, her question was ignored.
Duclos works at Kinder’s BBQ during the school year, but minimum wage does not put a dent in the $35,000 in student loan debt she’s incurred during her first three years. Without Pell grants, it would be nearly impossible for her to afford college. Duclos is proud to be the first in her family to attend university, but she is concerned what could happen for students like her if Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget — which Lungren voted for — became law and Pell grants were cut.
“I feel like he’s telling me that only rich people should go to college,” Alexis Duclos said outside the Folsom community center, according to Thinkprogress.

But the Ryan Budget is not the only attack on public education that can be expected, particularly if Mitt Romney is elected president. This is what Romney had to say at a Florida fundraiser:

"The Department of Education: I will either consolidate with another agency, or perhaps make it a heck of a lot smaller. I'm not going to get rid of it entirely," explaining that part of his reasoning behind preserving the agency was to maintain a federal role in pushing back against teachers' unions. Romney added that he learned in his 1994 campaign for Senate that proposing to eliminate the agency was politically volatile.
By diminishing the role of the Department of Education, Romney could compromise the federal government’s role in oversight and federal funding of the American educational system and further the Republican assault on unions.