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Around 1900, in a historic shift of goals, U.S. education took to itself the task of sending every American through high school. The goal is already basically fulfilled, although almost one-third of all students still fail to graduate. Now, in a similar big lurch forward, the nation is raising its sights toward what the National Education Association calls "universal education for two years beyond high school." Reduced to its simplest terms, the deep significance of the junior college is that it changes the concept of the proper school-leaving age for the great bulk of Americans from 18 to 20.