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Guest Essay

By Randi Weingarten

Ms. Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

For years, America’s approach to education has been guided by an overly simplistic formula: 4 4 — the idea that students need four years of high school and four years of college to succeed in life.

Even with this prevailing emphasis on college, around 40 percent of high schoolers do not enroll in college upon graduating, and only 60 percent of students who enroll in college earn a degree or credential within eight years of high school graduation.

While college completion has positive effects — on health, lifetime earnings, civic engagement and even happiness — it’s increasingly clear that college for all should no longer be our North Star. It’s time to scale up........

© The New York Times