From http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb111/hb111-21.pdf (page 6):
That might be why outcomes have not improved. According to the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan, within eight years of graduating, 51.1 percent of students in the high school class of 1972 had finished two- or four-year college degrees. In contrast, only 45.3 percent of 1992s high school class had done the same. In addition, while college attendance is up, overall adult literacy has barely budged. A federal assessment found that in 2003 only 13 percent of Americans 16 years old or older were ââproficient in reading prose, understanding written directions, or performing quantitative tasks. This dismal score was down from 1992, when 15 percent of Americans were proficient in prose and document literacy. To a significant extent, it seems a college degree may just be replacing a high school diploma as a sign of minimum competence.
How is that for a slap in the face? High school is useless now because college has taken its place. Oh, but you still have to finish high school to get to college and, no, it is not because of the technology changes.
If only this were an April Fool’s joke…