Noam Scheiber

The vast majority of Americans did not go to college, did not have a degree.

But we see that in the 80s and 90s, the number of people going to college really starts to explode.

And I think a lot of it has to do with the decline of traditional blue-collar jobs.

There was a sense that automation and globalization and the decline of unions was really making it harder for people to make a living if they only had a high school degree.

And the solution in a lot of cases was, well, we should send them to college.

This really becomes a kind of national obsession.

President's beginning, especially with Bill Clinton, talk about how people should go to college so that they can compete in the modern global economy.

The No Child Left Behind Act needs to be reauthorized and strengthened.

We see George W. Bush when he pushes his education reform initiative, No Child Left Behind.

emphasizes that we need to prepare people better to go to college.

And of course, Barack Obama really elevates this as well.

And this change really happens even outside of the political realm, too.

Even in the public school system, in charter schools, we really, as a nation, start emphasizing the importance of going to college.

One of the largest charter school networks in the country called KIPP.

It really starts emphasizing in the early 90s that college begins in kindergarten, that everyone must start obsessing about college from the very moment that they enter a classroom.

No question.

Everyone from your friends and family members to the president of the United States is telling you that this is an absolute necessity.

And so naturally, people start to follow that advice.

And by 2010, we see that 30 percent of Americans have four year college degrees and it's rising rapidly.

Yeah.