Whereas equality of opportunity for all people is one of the noblest aspirations of the United States; Whereas the National Center for Education Statistics reports that the employment rate for young adults with a bachelor's degree and the employment rate for young adults whose highest credential is a high school diploma differ by 14 percentage points; Whereas a 2015 study by Georgetown University identified that the average lifetime earnings gap between college graduates and individuals with only a high school diploma is $1,000,000; Whereas the Pew Economic Mobility Project finds that whether a child born in the lowest income quintile obtains a 4-year degree or higher credential is associated with— (1) an approximately 70-percent difference in the probability of that child earning an income outside the lowest income quintile; and (2) a threefold difference in the probability of that child going on to earn an income in the highest income quintile; Whereas the Education Commission of the States highlights that the number of nontraditional students at colleges and universities is expected to rise 65 percent faster than the number of traditional students during the 15-year period ending in 2024; Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that approximately 33 percent of high school graduates in 2017 did not matriculate to an institution of higher education the following fall semester, representing a modest decline in college enrollment since the year before; Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that the unemployment rate for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall semester of 2017 was 16.8 percent, significantly higher than the national unemployment rate; Whereas many secondary students struggle to identify and assess appropriate postsecondary options due to a number of factors, including insufficient information on programmatic outcomes and difficulties in accessing effective or consistent counseling services and resources