Obama:

Higher Education
Spent months lobbying to prevent the federal student loan rate from doubling to 6.2 percent

Increased Pell Grants and direct federal loans to cut down on extra fees paid to banks

Healthcare
Obama’s landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act extends coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans and mandates that most get insurance or pay a penalty
 
Women’s Issues
Supports the option of abortion

Health care law requires increased coverage of contraceptives and charges women the same rates as men

Signed a workers’ pay law in 2009 to allow employees to sue for discriminatory practices after any paycheck

Economy
Plans to cut the federal deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade by saddling those who make $1 million or more with a 30 percent income tax

Unemployment rate surged to 10 percent during his first year in office but has steadily fallen since then, landing at 7.8 percent in September

Obama’s jobs plan costs nearly $400 billion, about half from new spending and half from tax cuts

Romney:

Higher Education
Student loans should come from private lenders

Would restructure the Pell Grant program, narrowing the eligibility to reserve the grants for the neediest
 
 
Healthcare
Pledges to repeal bulk of the health care law, including the individual mandate, though he ushered in a similar policy six years ago as governor of Massachusetts
 
 
Women’s Issues
Opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a woman’s life

Calls for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to set policies

Would cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood

Economy
Would cut $500 billion yearly from the federal budget to balance the budget by 2020

Vice presidential pick Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., backs deep cuts to domestic spending

Would stem federal spending and debt by closing loopholes to lower taxes, reform tax code and reduce individual rates by 20 percent, stripping Wall Street regulations