Postsecondary planning is more complex than ever. The good news is that there are infinite pathways for students to choose from; the bad news is that there are so many choices to make that it can become overwhelming. The overwhelm doesn’t just come from the big decisions, it comes from having to gather and process all of the available options. School systems that support quality college and career readiness programming are intentional about how students conduct research to help personalize guidance. And, students need more than knowledge, they need steps to take and an outline of what it takes to reach their goals. Because each path requires different preparation–prerequisite skills, courses, and certifications–every student’s journey should be personalized. Schools and districts that are making this shift are taking into consideration the following three important factors. 

Supporting Multiple Pathways to Success

Schools with exceptional college and career readiness strategies create ample opportunities for students after they graduate. The implementation of pathways for all students–from career and technical education programs to traditional academic sequencing–provides students with an advantage. One benefit of pathways is that students’ transcripts end up being more attractive. Courses in subjects like engineering and health sciences differentiate students during the application phase, for example. As students narrow down their decisions about 2- and 4-year colleges, going directly into a career, enlisting in the military, or taking a gap year, schools can guide students regarding the steps they need to take, which are different depending on the intended future that they’re shaping for themselves. Gone are the days when we can just say that we’re preparing all students for college and leave it at that. There are too many other options that may require different steps than the ones that a college bound student might take, including experiences with internships, earning certifications, and developing specialized skills. 

Basing Decisions on Students’ Interests

Of course, students’ paths should be developed using as many data points as possible about their interests, skills, strengths, and aptitudes. Once pathways are available, students should be selecting them through guidance about who they are and who they want to be in the future. Because students are not static, this work should be done on a continuum whereby students can evolve naturally over their K-12 experience, and their postsecondary goals can advance with them. The goal isn’t to define a student but to use insights to help them make better decisions and that those insights become richer and more specific as they take assessments and build their postsecondary portfolios. Key data points can help students with career interests, programs and certifications to explore, and even wages in regions where they might want to live and work. 

Creating Tasks That Align to Plans

When students make plans and create more defined paths for themselves, schools and districts can begin to populate tasks for them to do to enact their plans. For example, a student who wants to study engineering in college might get a checklist of important math classes to take, including some version of calculus. In another example, a student might be prompted to find an internship, apply to scholarships, or compare their lifestyle calculations to the estimated salary for a particular job that interests them. This helps students to take steps toward their goal and better prepares them through the completion of important milestones that are personalized to their journey. Students often don’t know the specifics, requirements, and prerequisites of a job or degree, and schools with strong college and career planning programs can put them in the driver seat to be on track toward their next steps–in high school and thereafter. 

Conclusion 

Personalizing every student’s college and career journey isn’t about creating an entirely different program for each student. It’s about building a system that provides multiple pathways, uses meaningful data to inform decisions, and connects individual goals to actionable plans. When schools do this well, postsecondary planning becomes more than an annual activity or a graduation requirement. It becomes an ongoing process that helps students discover their interests, explore opportunities, and make increasingly informed decisions about their futures.

The key is moving from simply helping students set goals to ensuring they have the knowledge, resources, and support to achieve them. Students shouldn't have to figure out the complexities of college and career readiness on their own, especially when the decisions they make throughout their K-12 experience can open or close doors after graduation. The goal isn't to prepare every student for the same future; it's to prepare every student for a future they've had the opportunity to explore, understand, and intentionally pursue.

If you’re interested in tools that seamlessly support the strategies discussed in this blog, schedule your demo of the MaiaLearning platform today–a fully comprehensive college and career readiness tool that simplifies counseling and advisory periods and sets students up to thrive in work and life.