President Obama and congressional Republicans debate again over the extension of a federally subsidized student loan program.

Another year, another political fight over student loan rates.
President Obama gathered college students at the White House on Friday to urge Congress to extend a special college loan program before it expires on July 1 and interest rates double.
"Can anybody here afford that?" Obama asked the students surrounding him. "Higher education cannot be a luxury reserved for a privileged few."
Congressional Republicans denounced the Rose Garden event as an exercise in cynicism, stressing that the Republican-run House has already passed a student loan bill; the Democratic-run Senate has not acted.
"Here's one issue where the two parties can and should find quick agreement," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Unfortunately, the president appears more interested in needlessly stoking partisan divisions in Washington."
The dispute concerns the details of a revamped program. The House bill provides for variable interest rates, while the White House proposal would lock in rates.
"The House bill isn't smart and it's not fair," Obama said.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the differences between the House and the White House "are small" and can be "overcome quickly." But "rather than working to resolve the issue, the president resorted to a campaign stunt to try to score political points," Boehner said.
The two sides staged a similar debate in 2012 -- an election year -- and eventually agreed to a one-year extension of the program. That extension expires on July 1.