Many young people face challenges getting through college and often struggle to find gainful employment after graduation. But nearly 6 million others are stuck in a sort of limbo – they're neither in school nor working. That's largely because of a lack of opportunity and social mobility in America, according to the national advocacy group Opportunity Nation.

Opportunity Nation, a nonprofit group that produces a national index on economic opportunity, has joined two U.S. senators in a push to encourage closer ties between employers and colleges, particularly two-year institutions.

That, in its essence, is the American Dream: the notion that the United States is a land of opportunity, a place where if we work hard and play by the rules, we — or at least our children — can make it. The circumstances into which we are born shouldn’t dictate how far we can rise. It’s a nice sentiment, one that’s true for some, not true for others. But it is also something over which local communities can exert much control.

Even in a slowly improving economy, many teens and young college graduates are finding only frustration in their efforts to begin meaningful careers. A recently released study by the Opportunity Nation Coalition noted that 6 million Americans between 16 and 24 are neither working nor in school full time - an indication of a growing opportunity gap for young people that shows few signs of improvement.