President Barack Obama gave shout-outs to George P. Burdell, the Ramblin’ Wreck, and even thermodynamics homework when he came to Georgia Tech on Tuesday to announce his Student Aid Bill of Rights.

“It’s great to be at one of the finest technical institutes in the world,” Obama said. “You’ve got to be if the Ramblin’ Wreck is still running after all these years.”

Nearly 10,000 students, faculty, staff, and guests gathered in McCamish Pavilion to hear from the president, who spent about 30 minutes encouraging students in the pursuit of higher education and talking about ways he hopes to make it more affordable and accessible. 

He outlined steps his administration has already taken, such as tax credit expansion, additional Pell Grant funds, and an income-based repayment program. 

He also asked for support from the crowd for a new declaration of values he called the Student Aid Bill of Rights. The set of four principles complements a memorandum calling for the Department of Education and other federal agencies to do more to help borrowers afford their loan payments.

“It was really relevant because I’m applying to medical school for next year and didn’t have to take out loans for my undergrad, but I’m going to have to take them out for grad school,” said Deeti Pithadia, a biochemistry major who attended the speech.

Read more about the president's speech and visit.