The earnings advantages to adults with more schooling are well-documented. High school graduates typically have higher earnings than high school dropouts, and those with a bachelor's degree have higher earnings than both groups. Furthermore, as the job content of the nation's economy has shifted in a way that generally favors those with more schooling, these earnings gaps between those with more schooling and those with less have widened. The policy response to these trends has been simple and straightforward--encourage more schooling--that is, an increased emphasis on high school dropout prevention, college enrollment for all high school graduates, and, more recently, an emphasis on college completion of degree and certificate programs. Measures of enrollment, retention and completion have become a guide for judging the performance of the nation's secondary and postsecondary education systems.