The Purpose of College

Being a junior in high school, this is the year that colleges have transformed from something that you dream about to a reality. ACT prep, realizing the importance of grades, and the stresses of finding out where I want to go to college are common problems I face these days. While on the New York Times website I found an article where a writer argued the purpose of college. He wrote, "Preparing students for the workplace should be the job of high school, not college". After reading this I completely disagreed. I could name a handful of students I know that are prepared for college at this very moment in high school.
College is a very important part of American society. However, as college has been seen as the path to achieving a good career, America is in a economic struggle, and recently this has been very hard. College is to serve the purpose of developing the skills used for a career, which is why there are so many options to major in. Because the number of jobs out of college is on the decline doesn't mean that high school now has to carry the burden of preparing students for the rest of their life. A career is a big decision, and high school students aren't ready to decide, I certainly am not. I believe the chain works that high school is to prepare for college, and college is to prepare for a career. The purpose of higher education is more than "a highly restricted enterprise, educating only professionals who require advanced and special skills". The ages of the students attending college are the ages career choices should be made, not grade school and high school.
What do you think the purpose of college is? When should someone start focusing on their career?