The macroeconomic consequences are profound. Economists believe that there are really only three ways to raise living standards over the long run: to invest more in education, to invest more in machines or to innovate so that the same people and machines can more effectively be combined to produce more output.

Mr. Obama’s proposal is an effort to revive education as one of the drivers of economic growth. If he succeeds in persuading more of the next generation to continue beyond high school, and to invest in community college and possibly beyond, there’s a strong chance the rate of economic growth will be bolstered for decades to come. And relative to other ways of strengthening growth, investment in community college is most likely to ensure that the middle class shares in the benefits of it.

It remains to be seen whether Mr. Obama’s proposal will come to fruition, and whether community colleges can do their part. But in the long run of history, something like Mr. Obama’s proposal — let’s call it the “college movement” — is the obvious next step beyond the high school movement. It reverses 30 years of relative neglect, and it continues a long and successful American tradition of investing in education as a driver of both opportunity and higher incomes.