This brief report addresses two issues. One is the stagnation in the rate at which young people are receiving four-year college degrees, and the increasingly high financial barriers to attending college. The other is the large, and increasing, inequality in opportunity to achieve a college education. At the same time, economists have warned that our economy increasingly needs the skills obtained in college and that income for people with less than a four-year college degree is declining. This report is published as part of the Policy Information Perspective series, in which authors present research findings as well as offer their interpretations regarding the meaning of those findings for private and public policy. The views expressed are those of the author.