Whilst the above is highly promising in terms of eventual outcomes, what is not obvious is the fact that the higher numbers of those graduating with a post-secondary degree are only about 46% of the total number of students graduating from High School....Which means that less than half of our young adults graduating from high-school today do not attain the level where job-opportunities are most lucrative.
...We must have a post-secondary state-schooling that is free or nearly free to assure that the highest number possible of our youth continue their cycle of education as far as they can get in the post-secondary ladder of degrees.
Frankly, the primary problem that needs resolving is not that folks forgo college and post-graduate degrees, though I agree that having such is highly beneficial in the current economy. From what I can tell, however, much of what one needs to learn to develop a decent 21st century career can be taught in high school, yet it mostly isn't.
To wit, I have four kids and all of them finished high school with 20+ college credits before going to college. One entered college as a sophomore. Now one might think I have very bright kids. I'd say my kids are bright, but not inordinately so; my daughter did test to a genius level IQ, but my sons are just above average, and that because they worked at it. What all of them are is driven to succeed -- they didn't play instead of study, etc. -- and they have a fair measure of intellectual curiosity. They all played on inter-/intramural sports teams at school and socialized as much as most other kids, they went on vacations, and got themselves into various bits of mischief, but they occasionally slept a bit less than some kids.
The result of their efforts is that I will pay for five fewer semesters of college (bless them!). More to my point above, however, they finished high school knowing speaking Python, C++, Java/Javascript, and PL/SQL, having basic dBA skills, understanding the principles of economics (macro and micro), a mastery of critical thinking/logic, and the rest of the courses of an academic curriculum (AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP US History, AP European History, AP English Comp, AP [Modern Language], Latin, comparative religion, philosophy, etc.). I was truly amazed because I graduated well (late '70s) just as they did (our schools don't have class rank), but I don't know that I could have accomplished as much as they did, and much of the classes they took weren't even options when I was at the same school.
In my career, part of what I did was recruit and mentor recent grads -- undergrads and master's degree grads -- and help them develop their careers so they could rise to the partner level in my firm. Though all the junior folks I have interviewed, mentored, worked with are bright, only a few of them (the ones to whom we gave job offers) are as bright/driven as are my kids, which is to say, as bright/driven as we expect new hires to be. Would 21 to 25 year-old "me" today get hired by my firm? Probably not...On intellect alone, yes. On intellect plus skills mastered upon walking in the door, absent my parents or a close family friend owning the firm or something, no.
What I'm saying is that the bar has risen, but far too many kids, particularly kids from "typical" social strata, have not (for whatever reason) risen to meet it. Compounding the situation is the fact that K-12 school systems too haven't risen their bars to match the demands providers of high quality jobs have for people whom they'd hire. Both of those lacunae are, IMO, matters of will, not wherewithal.