This question of who gets educated — who deserves the time and resources to learn — is not new. Nor is the desire to distinguish between practical knowledge and idle exploration. The University of North Carolina’s 1789 charter calls for "all useful Learning," a caveat that stresses higher education’s need to serve worldly ends.

Overall, 59 percent of rural high school grads — white and nonwhite, at every income level — go to college the subsequent fall. That's a lower proportion than the 62 percent of urban and 67 percent of suburban graduates, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, which tracks this.

At College Unbound, a new institution in Rhode Island, the curriculum and services reflect the life and work experiences of older students. “We’ve tried to become what they needed,” says Adam Bush, its provost.

The enduring popular concept of what it means to go to college sends young people the message that they’re not “college material” if they’re not interested in, or able to attend, a four-year college or university.

Beyond the overall numbers shifting, high school graduating classes will become more diverse. Those classes will have fewer white students and more Hispanic students, according to demographers, and a greater range of academic abilities. Family incomes remain stagnant, so student financial need will increase. In other words, the decade ahead will be tumultuous for college enrollment.