Meaning U.S. taxpayers are picking up the tab.

Via Politico:

The White House denied Friday that political concerns were behind President Obama’s decision to travel to Iowa, North Carolina and Colorado next week.

The White House announced Friday that the president will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Iowa, to call on Congress to pass legislation designed to keep student loan rates down.

Election year politicking had nothing to do with picking what are widely regarded as three battleground states, according to administration officials.