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Obama drawing attention to new student loan debate

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's subsidized student loan program is back on the White House agenda one month before a scheduled interest rate increase. But President Barack Obama's push to avoid the increase is more low-key than it was in 2012, when the president was courting young voters on the campaign trail.

Obama will host college students Friday at the White House as he calls on Congress to keep the rates from doubling on July 1.

Faced with a similar deadline last year, Obama pressured Republicans with speeches at college campuses and high schools in presidential battlegrounds.

This year, Obama has been less confrontational, proposing a student loan plan in his budget. The White House has threatened to veto a House plan that takes a somewhat similar approach.