This is not good news.

Oddjob pointed to this article in the Kansas City Star, which reports that America is falling behind in its college enrollment and completion rates.

Belgium, Japan, Sweden and Korea are among countries beating the United States on both fronts.

The biennial report, Measuring Up 2006, is the fourth by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which usually compares states’ track records in higher education.

For the first time, however, the nonprofit, nonpartisan, San Jose, Calif.-based organization has compared how well America is doing at turning out college graduates, compared with other countries.

The findings suggest that if the United States continues to lag in turning out college graduates, the pool of workers to replace retiring baby boomers is likely to be composed primarily of young adults without a college education.

Enrollment and completion rates are higher for Americans aged 35-64 than they are for Americans aged 24-34. Some of this, I imagine, has to do with people going back to finish degrees later in life, but more of it is likely attributable to the rising cost of education. “The Project on Student Debt, which came out last month, revealed that in 10 years, the average loan debt for graduating seniors has more than doubled, from $9,250 to $19,200.”

No child left behind, bitchez.