For more information on these federal student aid programs, please go to www.studentaid.ed.gov, or call 1-800-4FED-AID.

WHITEHOUSE: Making Higher Education More Affordable

All student aid programs combined, which also includes tax benefits and work study programs, grew at a real annual rate of around 3.1 percent.

FORBES: Subsidy-Absorbing Institutions of Higher Education

Other federal grants: Federal monies awarded to the institution under federal government student aid programs, such as Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), DHHS training grants (aid portion only), State Student Incentive Grants (SSIG), and other federal student aid programs.

FORBES: #526 Colby-Sawyer College

That means the money will have limited impact on financial-aid eligibility under federal student-aid programs.

WSJ: Getting Going: The 'Other' College-Savings Account

To help with the math, colleges and universities participating in federal student-aid programs are now required to have a net-price calculator on their websites.

WSJ: College Planning: A Crash Course on Paying the Bill

But one way they would pay for it is to cut back our education spending by 20 percent and eliminate about 200, 000 Head Start programs and reduce student aid to go to college for about 8 million students.

WHITEHOUSE: Discussing the Economy in Albuquerque