It should be K-College

In present day America everyone has fair access to higher education but not all the members in society understand how to survive the system.  I do not propose to change the system of higher education, merely change the way in which we teach our younger generations about what to expect in the higher education system.  We must start first with giving them explicit expectations and measurable attainable accomplishments.  In other words, it is the expectation in American society for all the members to attend primary school in order to be successful in secondary school, and the expectation of attending secondary school to be successful in college, and the purpose of attending college is to complete at minimum a four-year college degree.  This expectation should be regardless of first or second generation, ethnicity, social class, funding, etc.  If America can produce a first class military at any expense, we should be even more disposed at producing first class thinkers to compete in a growing global economy.

Specifically education should not be split between K-12, college, and university.  The American educational system should be K-college (Kindergarten through College/University).  Over the past few years Maricopa Community Colleges has made strides in creating a transfer process from the colleges to the university that is easy, accessible to all, and sets the students up for success at the university.  The community college systems and State Universities created an open dialog, collaborated in setting standards, and literally created a course maps that the students can use to navigate the classes required by both systems to achieve a baccalaureate.  These two systems understand that they each supplement the other in terms of enrollment and graduation rates.  So far the system called AZ Transfers has helped many community college students reach a university and attain a college degree.

Now is the time for the K-12 system to create a similar system, we can no longer afford to treat each educational levels in silos.  In my professional experience the K-12 system has been very resilient in opening their doors to higher education.