Obama: We Have Colleges Because Politicians Said ‘We Should Start Colleges’

MOTA: "I'm going to be honest with you."

OBAMA: "Yes."

MOTA: "Before I came here to do this interview for YouTube, I never really followed politics that much --"

OBAMA: "You are not -- I think you are not the only one." 

MOTA: "(Laughter) A lot of my audience, and just the younger generation, don't seem as interested in it, and I personally think that we should be. So, my question for you is why should the younger generations be interested in politics and why should it matter to them?"

OBAMA: "Well, basically, politics is just how do we organize ourselves as a society, how do we make decisions about how we're going to live together. So, young people care about how college is paid for. Well, the truth of the matter is that the reason we even have colleges is that, at some point, there were politicians who said, 'You know what? We should start colleges.' And dating back to Abraham Lincoln, who started something called land-grant colleges, and he understood that government should invest in people being able to get an education and having the tools to succeed. Well, you guys are the ones who are going to be using these colleges and universities and if they are not getting enough funding from government and your tuition goes up, then you got more debt, you are the ones affected. So you better have a voice and know what's going on and who is making decisions about that."