Obama: Loan changes overcome 'politics of the moment'

WASHINGTON -- Big changes in the student loan program will help make college more affordable for students and their debt load more manageable after graduation, President Barack Obama said.

After a week when the loan program overhaul passed in the shadow of the health care law, the president cited expected benefits for young people: more student lending, caps on those repayments and more money for minority colleges and universities.

Obama is expected to sign the education bill into law Tuesday.

"This reform of the federal student loan programs will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade," Obama said in his weekly Internet and radio address Saturday. "And with this legislation, we're putting that money to use achieving a goal I set for America: By the end of this decade, we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."

Democrats in the House succeeded in linking the education bill with the health care overhaul over Republican objections.

Obama said the achievements show "what's possible when we can come together to overcome the politics of the moment, push back on the special interests and look beyond the next election to do what's right for the next generation."

Under the measure, private banks would no longer get fees for acting as middlemen in federal student loans. The government would use the savings to boost Pell Grants and make it easier for some workers to repay their student loans. In addition, some borrowers could see lower interest rates and higher approval rates on student loans. Savings are also meant to go toward reducing the deficit and helping to pay for expanded health care.

Obama is hoping the health and education initiatives will pay dividends for Democrats in the November congressional elections. One wrinkle, though, is that most pieces of last week's legislation don't kick in until 2014.