When U.S. Sen. Barack Obama launched his bold bid in 2007 for the presidency of the United States, the contingency of college-aged voters was paramount to deciding the outcome of the election. As in past big election years, college students mobilized in large numbers, that year mostly rallying to Obama's call to help him lead a major turnaround in how the nation is run and who runs it. Today, with only weeks left before the November 6 election and higher education funding emerging as a major issue in the 2012 election battle, college campuses are again at the center of the intense election campaign between now-President Obama, seeking reelection, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. As the candidates blaze trails across the country, frequently using college campuses as the site of their public political rallies, campuses are abuzz with students, faculty and staff working to get their peers and others engaged in the 2012 national elections. They're holding seminars on the importance of participating in the election, how to register to vote and how to vote by absentee ballot. The author reports on how colleges across the country do their parts to encourage voting.