"it is universities themselves that have undermined the worth of the education..."

[fabrizio]

<p>

But so often kids in pubic K-12 schools are kept in school and passed along to the next grade no matter how dismal their performance or even how disruptive they may be in class. Thus a high school diploma has lost pretty much all its value as a signal of achievement or work ethic.

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<p>Hence the phrase “college is the new high school” and its more recent adaptation “grad school is the new college”?</p>

<p>“Obama’s dream of universal higher education,” as Riley stated, should not be pursued to the extent that “college is the new high school.” Holding constant the current state of college education, “universal higher education” would just mean a nation whose achievement, on average, was no better than that of their grandparents (presumably back when a high school diploma did serve as a signal of achievement or work ethnic).</p>