The act, which was officially passed on September 27, helps to make college more affordable in several important ways. The bill increases the maximum Pell Grant for students from low-income students to $5,200, an increase of $500 over the next four years. The bill also reduces interest rates for federally-subsidized students loans, increases eligibility criteria for Pell Grants, and guarantees that low-income borrowers will not have to spend more than 15% of their income to repay student loans. The legislation also provides tuition assistance for graduates that pursue public service careers such as nursing, firefighting, or teaching. There are also grants to colleges with high minority student enrollment and incentives to keep tuition costs from rising. The bill is estimated to cost $18.7 billion. But instead of using taxpayer money, the bill will be payed for by reducing federal subsidies to companies that provide student loans. As the recent student loan scandals have shown, these lenders -- some already faced with corruption and criminal charges -- don't exactly need any more federal assistance.

But not only college students should care about the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. College affordability affects everyone -- from the poorest families to the super-rich. It is almost impossible to attain a middle class standard of living without a college education, making affordable higher education crucial to the prosperity, economic strength, and global-competitiveness of the country as a whole.

As TheMiddleClass.org says, students have become saddled with debt, making college increasingly unaffordable.

"The value of federal student aid programs, such as Pell Grants, has failed to keep pace with rising college costs, while many states have reduced their support for public universities. As a result, nearly two thirds of students at four-year colleges must now borrow to finance their college education, and the typical student borrower now graduates with nearly $20,000 in debt – and some with much more . The prospect of taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt deters some students, especially those from lower-income families, from pursuing college entirely. Meanwhile, the need to pay off costly student loans makes it impractical for many graduates to pursue public service careers in essential fields such as teaching or social work. For many young people, the burden of student loan debt makes it difficult to make ends meet on a daily basis, much less support a family or begin to save for retirement."

The statistics on student debt are fairly shocking. About 39% of college graduates under the age of 35 say that it will take them more than 10 years to pay off their college debt and 29% say they've had to delay a medical or dental procedure because of their loans. One in six of these graduates say that college loan debt has actually delayed marriage. And since the average college student who starts school in 2011 will save $4,420 under this bill, who needs to worry about that overpriced pizza anymore?