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At age 18, an American is old enough to fight, and die, for his or her country, but not old enough to buy a beer. At age 16, one can obtain a driver’s license, but not rent a car. And at age 17, one can get married in some states, but not in others. When, exactly, is a kid no longer a kid? When does childhood end and adulthood begin?

The number of black and Latino students enrolling as first-year freshman at CUNY’s four-year colleges declined post-recession, according to a new report.

College is a time for academic inquiry, personal growth, and, of course, studying. But three studies published in the past three years suggest there might be less studying happening on college campuses than there used to be. According to one of them, by economists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, college students today spend about 40 percent less time studying outside of class than they did in 1961.

One of the most heated debates about education these days largely revolves around the fallout of the recession: with higher unemployment and fewer jobs available, many are quick to blame college education for its lack of practical applications in the workforce. But is this fair? Liz Coleman, President of Bennington College, is trying to reorient what we expect of education, and how that relates to employment.

The Associated Press has obtained a new report from the New York Police Department which provides a surprising portrait of just how far the NYPD's intelligence division went in a surveillance program targeting Muslims. The NYPD tracked closely the activities of Muslim student groups at 13 colleges in the northeast, monitoring their e-mails and taking notes on their activities. 

President Obama began his 2012 presidential campaign last month with a stop at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he addressed young, swing-state voters about the need for affordable higher education in the coming decades. The question that remains is how can public universities keep tuition costs down in a depressed economy. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology might have an answer. This spring, MIT announced the launch of MITx, an online learning platform that offers MIT classes for free.

Jonathan Mintz, commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, follows up on the topic of predatory schools and the city's campaign, "Know Before You Enroll."

Be it from ticket sales, memorabilia, television rights, or donors, college sports generate over $6 billion in annual revenue. Yet while coaches are receiving larger and larger contracts — the average college football coach's salary in 2010 was $1.36 million — the money doesn't trickle down to the players. The discrepancy has led many to call for stipends or other methods of paying college athletes for their work on the field. On January 14, the National Collegiate Athletic Association will review the issue.

First, there was Penn State and Jerry Sandusky. Now there is Syracuse and Bernie Fine. Last night, Syracuse University announced it had fired Fine, assistant basketball coach of more than 30 years. The decision came after a third man came forward, alleging he had been molested by Fine. And like the Penn State scandal, these accusations are years old.

Penn State University has been in full-fledged crisis management mode this week. On Wednesday, football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were both removed from their positions. It was an attempt to answer criticism that the university and football program did not do enough to stop assistant coach Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing young boys on camps over a span of 15 years.

Some shocking news about Penn State's football program broke this weekend when Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant defensive coach, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15 year period. Two top university officials — Gary Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director — are expected to turn themselves into authorities today. They have been charged with perjury and failing to report what they knew about allegations against Sandusky. Still hanging in the air is the question of what Penn State coach Joe Paterno knew about the accusations against his assistant defensive coach.  

This year the price of college reached a record high. According to figures from an annual College Board report, the average cost of per year of tuition is up more 8.3 percent for public 4 year colleges and up 4.5 percent for private schools. The average college student now finishes school with between $22,000 and $28,000 of debt. In total, Americans currently owe nearly a trillion dollars in student loans — that's more than they owe on credit cards. President Obama addressed the issue of student debt in a speech in Denver on Wednesday, announcing a new program to lower monthly student loan payments.

A new novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides follows three college students graduating in the midst of an economic downturn. With unemployment around 10 percent, the characters try to find ways to cope — moving home, busing tables, applying to graduate school. One flees the country entirely, running from the recession at home to volunteer in India. It sounds like a novel set in 2011, until Eugenides' characters start calling each other from land line phones and writing letters home from abroad. 

In-state tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose 7.9 percent between the 2010-11 and 2009-10 school years. At private four-year schools, the average cost rose 4.5 percent. Are these rising costs improving education? Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University, presided over a 300 percent increase in tuition and fees over his two decades as president at GWU. He recently defended the high costs of tuition in an article for The Atlantic.

Beth Kobliner, financial journalist, member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, and author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, discusses how to help your college student manage his or her personal finances upon going to school.

Historically black colleges and universities were established prior to the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made previously established "separate but equal" racial segregation laws null. The schools were intended to provide higher education to the black community, at a time when black students weren't permitted to attend many institutions. Today, 105 historically black colleges and universities still exist in America, but many of them are now actively looking to enroll non-black students. Why is this? And how will this initiative change historically black colleges?

Thomas Vander Ven, associate professor of Sociology and Anthroplogy at Ohio University, talks about his new book on the college culture, Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard.

In the state that put the country on wheels, car ownership is as American as apple pie. But there are a growing number of people in Michigan who are giving up their vehicle titles and turning to Zipcar, one of the better known of a growing number of car-sharing services.

What’s been the return of investment on your college experience? Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company magazine and author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education and Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back, discusses the way in which the value of college is being reassessed.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. When it comes to the economic recovery, that's what it's all about. We'll talk about how men, women, and college graduates are faring in today's jobs market.