In an era of global competition and deepening scrutiny of higher education, colleges and universities can no longer afford to view student preparation as someone else’s responsibility. Instead, they need to play a more active role in shaping the educational pipeline that prepares students for college.
Think of education as a river system. K–12 schools function as the upstream current, with universities as downstream institutions receiving students shaped by that flow. Historically, higher education has largely relied on K–12 systems to prepare students for college. But universities should not simply wait downstream; they should be active coarchitects of it.
Each year, high school graduates across the country arrive on campus filled with anticipation and possibility. For many students, this transition is both exciting and disorienting. They’re eager to succeed but too often are unprepared for the academic and social expectations they find.
National data underscore this challenge. ACT data from the 2024 graduating class show that only about one in five ACT-tested high school graduates met all four college readiness benchmarks across English, mathematics, reading, and science. Similarly, a 2025 report from Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation, and Jobs for the Future (JFF) found that fewer than half (46%) of high school students felt “very prepared” to pursue the postsecondary pathway in which they were most interested.
These gaps matter. Students who require remediation are more likely to experience delayed credit accumulation, higher attrition rates, and lower completion outcomes. In turn, this affects retention and graduation rates for colleges and universities across the country.
This is where universities have an opportunity—and arguably an obligation—to become more directly engaged in student preparation. There is talent and potential in every community, but realizing that potential requires K–12 schools and higher education to work more closely together.
University engagement in K–12 education is not new. As early as the late 18th century, institutions such as Rutgers University established college preparatory schools. With the expansion of public secondary education in the 19th century, these early preparatory models gradually gave way to university-affiliated laboratory and teacher training schools, including the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, founded by John Dewey, and the Lincoln School at Teachers College, Columbia University. But while influential, many of these models remained limited in scale and reach.
The challenge now is to build models that can reach more students while better connecting academic preparation, advising, and access to college. One example is Arizona State University Preparatory Academy, founded in 2008 as a tuition-free public charter network. ASU Prep extends the university’s K–12 educational ecosystem, with an explicit focus on college, career, and life readiness.
The model integrates early college coursework, personalized learning pathways, and structured academic planning beginning in middle and early high school. Many high school students graduate having completed college coursework and earned transferable credit. The network reports graduation rates above 90% and postsecondary enrollment rates exceeding 93%. Since its founding, it has graduated 4,400 students and now enrolls more than 10,000.
Other institutions, including the University of Chicago, Purdue University, the University of Southern California, and the University of California San Diego, have also developed or partnered with K–12 initiatives that focus on similar commitments to pipeline alignment, early college access, and educator development.
Despite these promising models, K–12 systems and higher education remain too disconnected. Expectations often don’t align, feedback loops are weak, and accountability is fragmented, leaving too many students unprepared for the transition to college.
However, this gap is not inevitable. More colleges and universities should invest in K–12 partnerships and programs that strengthen student preparation and create coherent pathways to higher education. This work goes beyond outreach; it is a strategic investment in institutional sustainability, student success, and national competitiveness.
That means creating clearer pathways between K–12 and higher education rather than expecting students to navigate disconnected systems on their own. Universities can begin by aligning K–12 and postsecondary personnel, expanding access to credit-bearing college coursework, developing shared advising and data systems, and reducing the administrative and financial barriers that often impede students’ transitions to college.
As Norman Maclean suggests in A River Runs Through It, everything eventually converges within the same current. Education is no different. The future of higher education may increasingly depend on whether universities are willing to move beyond traditional institutional boundaries and strengthen the systems that carry students toward opportunity and success. For university presidents, provosts, and deans, investing upstream is not a side project. It is a defining responsibility rooted in institutional mission, sustainability, and public trust.
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