We think of a high school degree the way we once thought of middle school, as a transitionary step rather than a final one, so I’m not sure what is so terrifying about college becoming the final educational chapter of a person’s life. The real issue, I think, is that high school is free while college now indentures citizens to the labor market. One solution might be to merge the two, and to begin considering all the complexities that such a marriage would bring.