In every state today, students can meet the requirements for high school graduation and still be unprepared for success in college or the workplace. Just ask business leaders and college presidents, who say they must spend billions of dollars annually to provide their employees and students with the skills and knowledge they should have attained in high school.

The statistics cited to support their claim are indeed troubling. Only about 70 percent of students nationwide graduate from high school, and worse, only about half of black and Latino students graduate. Nearly a third of graduates who go on to college require placement in remedial education courses.

Thirty years ago, earning a diploma guaranteed young people access to good jobs and viable career pathways. Today, a diploma offers no such guarantee. The diploma has lost its value because the world young people are entering after high school has become much more complex, and the skills required for success have increased significantly. As the economy continues to change and new jobs emerge, researchers agree that what once was perceived as “college preparation” level is now the level of preparation all students need to be successful after high school. All students need a challenging academic course of study to ensure they have a range of options available to them when they graduate from high school.

Simply put, our standards need to keep pace with the world students are entering after high school. To bring value to the high school diploma, states need to raise standards for all students and tie high school graduation requirements and assessments to the expectations of colleges and employers. Colleges and employers must then honor and reward student completion of a college- and career-ready course of study and achievement on state tests through admissions, placement and hiring policies. This will send a powerful signal to students that it pays to meet higher standards in high school.

The American Diploma Project (ADP) Network states have committed to four policy actions that, taken together, can restore value to the high school diploma:

• Align high school standards and assessments with the knowledge and skills required for success after high school.
• Require all high school graduates to complete a college- and career-ready curriculum so that earning a diploma assures a student is prepared for opportunities after high school.
• Build assessments into the statewide system that measure students’ readiness for college and careers.
• Develop an accountability system that promotes college and career readiness.

Using ADP benchmarks as an anchor, states in the ADP Network are working to create a system of graduation requirements, assessments and accountability that — considered together — signify readiness for college and careers. State policymakers have the primary responsibility for accomplishing this, working closely with local educators and postsecondary education institutions, but both federal policymakers and the nation's business leaders have an essential role to play.