They're Talking on Campus

. . . About the most generous college financial aid plan in the nation, enacted by California this fall.

The plan guarantees needy high school students with good grades grants for full tuition at the state's public colleges and universities, or nearly $10,000 a year toward tuition at one of the state's private institutions. The cost: more than $1 billion a year.

. . . About a new study, reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association, that finds tobacco use among American college students is more prevalent than previously reported.

This study, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, considers cigars and smokeless tobacco for the first time.

Forty-six percent of 14,138 college students surveyed in 1999 used tobacco products in the previous one-year period.

"Essentially, college students are playing with fire, putting themselves at risk of a lifelong addiction to nicotine," said the study's lead author.

. . . About increased growth in college enrollments during the next decade.

Projections of Education Statistics to 2010, a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, estimates that a record 15.1 million students will enroll in college or graduate school this fall. By 2010 that figure should hit 17.5 million, because of rapid growth in the number of college-age students.