One thing we tell our students at the cc is that they need more than a HS education to get a decent job. And, unless they are entrepeneurs, this is generally true. It isn’t always true.
My husband’s employer is a multimillionaire without a college degree. But he doesn’t hire anyone, even for the beginning grunt positions, who doesn’t have a degree. Why not? He knows he can do the work. He doesn’t know if the person he hires can. So he uses the college degree to show him that they can do the work.
A lot of students are now in college because they have a goal of making a good wage when they get out. Is that a bad goal? No, it’s not. But when they aren’t prepared equally it makes things a bit more difficult for the teacher.
And, in reality, there is a difference in preparation for community college students and university students at a university without an open admission policy.