KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: Some presidential pomp and circumstance in Northfield, Minnesota, today. President Clinton has traveled there to address the graduating seniors at Carleton College. It will be his final commencement address as president. CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett is traveling with the president today. Good morning, Major.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. As you said, the president just arrived here in Northfield, Minnesota, about 40 miles south of the Twin Cities. The speech he will deliver will be on his higher education agenda. Why come to Carleton College? Well, one reason might be that one of his senior advisers, Tom Friedman (ph), is a graduate of Carleton College, also one of the president's good friends in the United States Senate, Senator Paul Wellstone, taught political science here for 21 years before being elected to the Senate in 1990. Thirdly, and importantly as well, Minnesota supported the president in '92 and '96 when he ran for re-election. As I said, the president's speech will emphasize his agenda on higher education. One of the statistics the president most often likes to cite is that now 66 percent of all high school graduates in America go directly on to college. That's up 6 percent from 1990. The president also likes to emphasize the value a college education brings in terms of future earning potential. A statistic he likes to cite is that if you've got -- graduate from college, you're more than likely to earn $600,000 more over your lifetime than if you simply graduate from high school. Now, the president's Republican critics like to point out that some of the ideas he's brought to higher education are exactly the ones they say belong at the elementary and secondary level, that is to say, increasing federal aid, but also increasing flexibility for parents to take that money to the institutions they think would best serve their children, which is exactly what students now do at the college level -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Major Garrett, beating the storm out there in Carleton College. Thanks a lot.
Clinton to Deliver Higher Education Agenda in Commencement Speech at Carleton College