Even With Educated Workforce, U.S. College, Career Issues Loom

Amid economic anxiety, American policymakers are examining how other nations invest in getting their students ready for life after high school

By Caralee J. Adams

If there were ever an argument for investing in career- and college-readiness, the impact of the economic crisis in recent years provides one: In 2009, unemployment globally was more than twice as high for those who did not complete high school compared with university graduates. In the United States, it was three times as high—15.8 percent for high school dropouts, compared with 4.9 percent for college graduates.

Those numbers offer an indicator that even though the United States overall has one of the most educated workforces in the world, its lead is slipping.

With 41 percent of the adult population holding a postsecondary degree, the United States ranks among the top five educated countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development , a global network of 34 developed countries that identifies and...