Perhaps we just need to tweak our public school system

Instead of K-12, maybe it needs to be K-14, with 13& 14 being the equivalent of what is now Community College.

There would be an automatic reduction of costs for "college" if the first two years were included in the "high school" curriculum.

Many kids already take the "basics" in community college and then transfer for the remaining 2 years.

Alongside this, should be a return to a true vo-tech inclusion like there once was. There are many skills that once were "taught" by union apprenticeship programs that are scarce these days, and with jobs being cut right and left, there are few places where people can truly learn on the job. A robust vo-tech system would fill the gap, and train people for real work. Unpaid internships are not the answer, since that only teaches a young person that they must "give their labor away" in order to learn a trade. It teaches them that they have no value, and that their work is not worth paying for. That's no way to inculcate a sense of worth , or an enthusiasm for learning or working.