Recent graduates, professors and employers agree on raising expectations.

Of the groups surveyed by Achieve, all agreed that high schools need to expect more from students and provide more rigorous content if graduates are going to be successful in college or work.

• If high schools raised standards, graduates say they would be able to meet them. Four out of five college students (82 percent) and non-students (80 percent) say that they would have worked harder if their schools had demanded more, set higher academic standards, and raised expectations of how much coursework and studying would be necessary to earn a diploma. (Achieve)
• More than 70 percent of graduates support all the remedies proposed to better prepare them for life after high school, and at least three out of four employers and college instructors feel that each proposal would improve things a great deal or somewhat. (Achieve)
• 94 percent of college students believe that providing opportunities to take more challenging courses, such as honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, would improve their preparation for life after graduation, including 75 percent who say that this would improve things a great deal. College instructors strongly agree: 85 percent say that this would improve things, and 46 percent believe that this would improve things a great deal. (Achieve)
• 97 percent of non-college students say that providing opportunities for real-world learning and making coursework more relevant would improve things, including 76 percent who say that this would improve things a great deal. Ninety-five percent of employers agree, including 49 percent who say this would improve things a great deal. (Achieve)
• Strong majorities of high school graduates support several remedies that would increase their workload, including 81 percent who say that requiring students to pass exams to graduate from high school would improve things and 74 percent who say that requiring all students to take four years of math and courses in science to graduate would improve things. (Achieve)