Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the incoming Speaker of the House, has said Democrats want to make college more affordable by cutting the interest rates on new federal student loans in half.

That's a tall order given all the budgetary pressures the 110th Congress will face in the next two years. But Fritz Elmendorf, a spokesman for the Consumer Bankers Association, said he thinks there's a 50-50 chance student loan rates will be lower for the 2007-08 enrollment period. But it might only be for a year, he surmised, given the pressure on lawmakers to curb the deficit.

Even a year can make a difference, though, given how quickly college costs increase. Even though the rate of growth has slowed, it has far outpaced inflation for over a decade. Case in point: the average cost of tuition, room and board at four-year private colleges broke the $30,000 barrier for the first time this year, according to the College Board.