All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Some of the words kids use today are off the "hezzie," and totally "presh."

Now, if you're scratching your head, you are probably not currently a college student.

UCLA has just published its sixth edition of college slang words - the turns of phrase that students there and all over the country are using these days.

I was pleasantly relieved to hear that the word "biznatch" actually refers to business - as in stay out of my, what we old schoolers may have called "beeswax." The word "recessionista" is a sign of the times. It's a "fashionista," on a budget. "Schwa" means "wow," and thanks to a recent movie "I Love You, Man" - we know all about "bromances" - not that there is anything wrong with that...

It'll be fun to see how many of these words are still around twenty years from now, and how many go the way of "gnarly" and "rad."

And it's good to know that "cool" is still a part of the lexicon - a word we all understand - whether we are, or not.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

It could be a break for parents struggling to pay tuition bills in this tough economy. More colleges offer a four-year education in just three years. It doesn't take a calculus major to figure out that could save some serious cash.

The schools insist they're not cutting corners. Some would have students take courses in the summer, or online. Others would adjust schedules to cram in more class time.

It's a great alternative for the right student, but a three-year plan might not be for everyone. In fact, almost 40 percent of college graduates take more than four years to earn their degrees, and the intensity of a three-year program might mean skipping school sports or missing a chance to write for the campus newspaper.

College is about a lot more than text books and tuition. It's when teens grow into young adults and figure out what they want to be. That generally happens on their own time, no matter what the stock market is doing.

That's a page from my notebook.

There is one quote that really stuck with me when we were researching ideas for tonight’s story on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric about college students graduating into the recession. “Damn me for being born in ’87,” Suzanne Block told The Chicago Tribune back in March before graduating. “This is just a nightmare. There could not be a worse time to be looking for a job.”

Oh how right Suzanne is. Employers say they’ll hire 22 percent fewer grads this year versus last year. And while 51 percent of college seniors looking for jobs found one before leaving campus back in 2007, less than 20 percent were as fortunate this year.

Desperate times call for desperate measures? Well, maybe not desperate but unusual, creative approaches to the job hunt seem to be the norm, not the exception, as students try to find a way to stand out. Remember, today’s graduates are not only competing against their peers but against experienced 20-somethings and baby boomers who lost their jobs and are anxiously trying to find new ones.

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Education is the engine that drives progress, and easy access to education gives a country a competitive advantage.

A recent study delivers the sobering news that America is continuing to lose it’s edge in that department.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reports that every state but one - California - flunked the college affordability test. At state colleges and universities, costs have climbed a whopping 440 percent since the 1980's, meaning young people today have more roadblocks to a degree than their parents had.

With state budgets already stretched and student loans harder to come by, you don't need a Ph.D. to figure out most Americans can't really afford college anymore.

But this nation can't afford the alternative, either: A generation lacking the skills and savvy to keep the engine of progress humming well into the new millennium.

At some level, winning on Election Day is nothing more than a numbers game. And much of that game comes down to districts, votes, the electoral college and battleground states.

Think you know which way some of those states will swing? Our politics team has created a nifty new map that not only lets you play with the formula to see the different "ways to win," but also is chocked full of information on the battleground states.

To try it yourself, just click here - or check out the simplified version of the map in the widget below. And don't forget to let us know what you think.

As you can see from the commencement speech we posted earlier, I was given the honor of addressing the brilliant and diverse Williams class of 2007 yesterday. I thought I'd take a moment to tell you a little bit about the experience — and how hopeful it made me about young people and about our country’s future.

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In addition to the grown-ups, there were some terrific student speakers at yesterday’s Williams College commencement. I wish I could attach all of their speeches—because all of them are worth reading—but one student’s remarks stood out. Auyon Mukharji gave a wise and often hilarious address that I think is relevant not just to Williams students, but to college kids everywhere. Here's a link to his speech posted on the Williams College Web site.

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As I promised on Friday, here's the speech I gave at Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass yesterday:

Thank you President Schapiro, and good morning everyone — dedicated faculty and staff, proud parents and, of course, graduates! I am honored to be a small part of this very big day.

Having heard so much about Williams and Williamstown from my brother-in-law Jim Batchelor — class of '72 — and from my sister, Clara, who left Smith to spend her junior year here (mostly because of Jim), it’s as beautiful as they’ve described. It’s no wonder Thoreau said after visiting here in 1844, “it would be no small advantage if every college were thus located at the base of a mountain.”

And after doing a little reporting, I’ve learned a lot about this school and its legitimate bragging rights as a college of firsts — the first to sponsor a scientific expedition, the first to build an astronomy observatory in America.

And Williams was the first school in the country to adopt the Oxford tradition of sporting caps and gowns at graduation — an effort to make the class more egalitarian. So it’s because of Williams that hundreds of thousands of graduates this time of year will be sporting this figure-flattering, dress-it-up, dress-it-down ensemble.

And Williams, no doubt, is the first and last school in the country to adopt a purple cow as its mascot. I’m sure this bovine bruiser instills a tremendous amount of fear on the football field.

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On tonight's CBS Evening News, our colleague Sharyn Alfonsi looks at the higher cost of higher education, and how more students are being driven into debt. Here's a preview. - Ed.

There were a lot of things I loved about being a college student.

I went to Ole Miss, so it was all about classes in the Grove, tailgating on Saturdays and perfecting the art of smuggling bourbon into football games. (Key words: Ziploc bags and masking tape).

I had such a great time in Oxford that it’s amazing my four years there didn’t turn into five or six. The reason I ultimately moved into the real world was simple: I was sick of being broke.

I remember putting my debit card into the ATM, selecting WITHDRAWL, $20, and then waiting. One of two things would happen next. If you were lucky, you’d hear the delightful sound of money cranking towards you. If you weren’t lucky, you’d get a disappointing silence and a more disappointing message on the screen: INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.

Being cash-strapped in college has always been part of the deal. But these days, going deep into debt is becoming just as common. Among students with loans, the average debt since 1993 has doubled from $9,250 to $19,200. That's a 58 percent increase -- after accounting for inflation.

What’s going on? ...

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