“Almost 60 percent of Americans have a high-school degree but not a college degree.”
Wait a minute. So he’s saying that 40% of Americans have a college degree? So, to allow for dropouts, 50% or so of the high school kids graduating this year are going to college?
We’d have to have half as many colleges as we do high schools?
Something sounds wrong with that number.
So he’s saying that 40% of Americans have a college degree?
No, that is not what he is saying. He is saying that of Americans who have a high school "degree", fewer than half (over 40%) have also graduated from college, and more than half ("almost 60%") have not graduated from college.
This statistic does not address the percentage of Americans who do not have a high school "degree." I assume they're using the term "high school degree" here to include both people who have graduated from high school with a diploma and those who have earned a GED or equivalent credential.