Ten years ago, President Barack Obama pledged to make the U.S. first in the world in College-educated workers by 2020. His American Graduation Initiative called for 60 percent of young people to complete two- and four-year degrees or vocational certificates.

The “moonshot” remains stuck in a lower orbit, writes Jon Marcus in the Washington Post. The number of 25- to 34-year-olds with degrees or certificates rose from “about 39 percent to just under 48 percent.”

The U.S. ranks 13th in the world in 25- to 34-year-olds with degrees, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, he writes. Canada, Russia and Lithuania, among others, have a more educated workforce.

Higher education institutions of all kinds have 2 million fewer students than in 2009.

That’s partly because the number of 18- to 24-year-olds who represent traditional college students is declining, even as an improving economy has drawn more people straight into the job market, without stopping to get degrees.

But federal and state budget cuts for higher education also haven’t matched the aspirations of ambitious targets like Obama’s: Most of the $12 billion he promised to help community colleges fell through, and states are spending an inflation-adjusted $7 billion less on public universities and colleges than in 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. That’s a cut of 16 percent, on average, pushing up tuition faster than family incomes and fueling public skepticism about whether college is worth the cost.

Some states are on track to reach their workforce goals, Marcus writes. Tennessee, which now offers tuition-free community college, expects to reach its target — 55 percent of young residents with certificates or degrees — two years ahead of the 2025 deadline.

College graduation rates are up slightly: 58 percent of college enrollees complete a two- or four-year degree in six years, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

However, Americans are increasingly dubious about the college-for-all push. With college costs high and unemployment low, interest is growing in career pathways and apprenticeships.

Young people need multiple pathways from high school to further education to careers, writes Robin Lake of the Center for Reinventing Education. College or bust leaves most students busted.