President Barack Obama has told Howard University's Class of 2016 that the country is "a better place today" than it was when he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
He says America is "by almost every measure" better now. Obama also says the country "also happens to be better off than when I took office, but that's a longer story."
That line drew cheers and applause from the audience at the historically black college in the nation's capital. Obama then said "that's a different discussion for another speech."
The 54-year-old president tells graduates that most of them were just starting high school when he was first elected to the White House.
He says: "I used to joke about being old. Now I realize I'm old. It's not a joke anymore."