It was an extraordinary sight: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates walking around the Columbia University campus in Manhattan with CNBC's Becky Quick, and three TV cameras.  During the tour, Buffett and Gates answered Becky's questions on a wide variety of topics.  Here, for the first time in a CNBC.com exclusive, is the complete Buffett-Gates 'Columbia Walk and Talk.'   Read More

The average cost of a four-year college is $26,000 a year—up 4 percent in 2009 alone. What is the value of an education and are there any alternatives for students who wish to attend college at a lower price? James Altucher, managing director at Formula Capital shares his ways to play the rising cost.    Read More

With the economy refusing to get up, like some drunken frat boy the morning after, it's come to my attention that Harvard faces a dire dilemma: how to attract the few students whose parents still have money.    Read More

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates will be the 'Big Men on Campus' next month when they go to Columbia Business School to answer questions from the "next generation of business leaders" .. and CNBC's cameras will be there.  We've just announced that a one-hour special town hall event, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great, will air Thursday, November 12 at 9p and 12a ET.   Read More

With everybody talking about employment numbers we started to wonder, where are the jobs, anyway?   Read More

Ready for a good scare? The national debt clock is now online, and it's brought 38 of its evil statistical friends with it to freak you out.   Read More

You don't have to wait for the Labor Department report on employment. If you want to know the state of the job market, look no further than Trina Thompson. A recent IT grad, Thompson is suing her college because she hasn't found a job yet.    Read More

According to recently released reports from the College Board, most students and their families can expect to pay, on average, from $108 to $1,398 more than what they paid in 2008 for this year's tuition and fees, depending on the type of college.  And with inflation rates continuing to increase, these costs will likely double and even triple in the years to come.  Although these costs are quite daunting, there are ways that parents and kids can prepare themselves for the sticker shock of attending college.     Read More

Until last fall we were a nation that shopped until we dropped. Will back-to-school shopping season be a catalyst to get shoppers off the sidelines? An annual survey released today by Deloitte suggests the answer is yes.   Read More

What’s the tipping point for student loans?  When they go from being an investment in your future to an anchor dragging you down?  When does it make sense to go into a certain amount of debt—debt that you cannot get rid of EVER, even in bankruptcy—and when does a lot of student loan debt become too much?   Read More