More than 10 million young people failed to voice their opinion in the presidential election in 2004.

The Obama campaign has made it a priority to reverse the trend.

Michelle Obama held a conference call for college newspapers Monday morning, with the hope of relaying the importance of voting and higher education issues. The wife of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama spoke to reporters and college students across America from the University of Wisconsin.

The main focus in her 20-minute speech was to relay the importance of young people voicing their opinion during the presidential election. The Obama campaign is targeting 18-to-24 year-old voters.

“This election is going to determine the course of an entire generation, and if not this one, then my girls’ generation,” Michelle Obama said.

She said more than 50 percent of college students are not registered to vote. She said this is a growing problem among the nation’s college student body.

“They need to make their voices heard and in the past, too many students have failed to make the effort to register to vote,” Obama said.

During her speech, she tackled the problem of student debt, which is largely due to the continual rise of tuition, she said. The average college graduate owes more than $22,000 in debt, she said. As part of its education platform, the Obama campaign plans to provide $4,000 in tuition relief to students attending higher education.

“Our country is facing high unemployment rates and it’s getting harder for recent graduate students to find jobs that pay wages that can cover their debt,” Obama said.

To recieve the $4,000, students would also have to complete 100 community service hours, she said.

“I think the 4,000-dollar relief fund is a great way to get people involved within their communities while helping students pay for college,” said Chelsea Tremblay, president of the Young Democrats and a political science and women studies major.

While Obama spoke about different issues facing young people right now, her main focus during the conference call was the need for more young people to vote on election day, even if they do not vote for Barack Obama.

“This is a crucial moment in America’s history and that’s why we need to reverse the trend from 2004 when millions of young Americans opted out of voting on election and making history,” she said.

To help solve this problem, the Obama campaign has set up voter registration buildings nationwide and has hired college students to help register people between the ages of 18 and 24.