The context is how do we prepare our citizens to work in the information age in decent paying jobs.
The belief is that higher education (some level of College work or Trade School Apprenticeship) will produce the workers needed in the future.
Next question is, "How do we pay for this?"
One of my local governments covers tuition and fees for 2 years of community college for new high school graduates with decent GPAs . Pretty efficient way to produce good healthcare/tech/trades people that become productive taxpayers and consumers in the local community.