Postsecondary Planning Trends from the 2023 Naviance CCLR Student Survey

Today’s students see a shifting landscape when they consider their futures. In response to that uncertainty, they are beginning to think about their postgraduate plans earlier and more creatively than ever before.

A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll recently found that the majority of Americans don’t think a college degree is worth the cost, and Gallup revealed that Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36%, down from 48% in 2018. With the economic value of an undergraduate degree in a seeming decline, students are embracing learning about the full range of postsecondary options available to them.

Our 2023 Naviance CCLR Student Survey delivers insights into students’ thinking and the shifting trends in postsecondary planning. This information will help schools and districts better understand what students are looking for in college, career, and life readiness programming.

2023 Naviance CCLR Student Survey: Key Findings

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that even if every unemployed person today were to find a job, there would still be four million open jobs in the workforce. The worker shortage has made students aware of opportunities to enter the workforce earlier, causing them to begin their postsecondary planning earlier as well. In fact, more than half of survey respondents indicated that they started planning for their post-high school life during middle school. This is substantially sooner than many schools and districts introduce students to college, career, and life readiness programming and highlights a misalignment between what students need and what schools deliver.

When looked at by grade level, there are clear defining features for students across high school.

• Grade 9: In their first year of high school, students are most able to think “big picture” about their futures because they haven’t yet begun winnowing down their options. Not yet defined by the courses they’ve taken or the grades they’ve earned, these students are most willing to consider every postsecondary path available to them.
• Grade 10: Sophomores seek more resources and guidance in connecting their academic strengths and extracurricular interests with potential career paths. Because their understanding of the careers available to them is relatively limited, they want to know how to connect their strengths and passions with a profession that would feel meaningful and purposeful.
• Grade 11: By their junior year, 75% of students have decided to attend a four-year college, though that number drops to 50% when they enter Grade 12. Nearly half of these students wish their school provided more help around researching scholarships and financial aid, reluctant to become another statistic in the student debt crisis.
• Grade 12: Unsurprisingly, the oldest students have the best understanding of their strengths and interests, the careers they’re interested in pursuing, and the path to get there. However, nearly a third of these students still need help learning how to finance continuing education.

Across all survey respondents, other themes also emerged.

• Most students wish their school offered more support in a range of postsecondary planning areas, especially once they get to eleventh grade, where researching scholarships and financial aid are especially in need.
• Students of all grade levels wish their school offered more help with making a resume.
• Students of all grade levels desire more work-based learning opportunities.
• Students expect that they will change jobs several times and are aware of an uncertain job market.
• Naviance CCLR is most useful to students when they are researching college options, discovering their strengths and interests, exploring their career options, applying to colleges, and keeping on track to meet their goals.

What These Findings Mean for Schools and Districts

The data from the Student Survey reveals several places where students have identified the need for more resources and support from their schools.

First, more than half of today’s students begin thinking about their postsecondary paths in middle school. This represents an opportunity for schools to begin implementing college, career, and life readiness programming much earlier than the final two years of high school.

Our eBook A Comprehensive Approach to Career Exploration: 3 Career Exploration Initiatives to Incorporate in K-12 for Future Success helps schools implement a CCLR framework that begins in elementary school and builds in breadth and depth as students mature. Using this kind of framework helps ensure that students are exposed to a wide variety of career paths and work-based learning experiences so they are well-equipped to make informed pathway planning choices later.

Second, it is notable that there is a 25% drop in students planning to attend a four-year college between junior year and senior year. This attrition suggests that students learn something in this timeframe that makes them change their plans or doubt if they are ready to meet college readiness standards.

Naviance CCLR’s student dashboard also features an option for primary and secondary pathway planning, so students could envision two plans simultaneously rather than committing to one at the outset, only to have to abandon it later.

Third, students want to know how to connect their academic strengths with potential career paths. With engaging self-assessments such as Career Key and Career Cluster Finder, students can use Naviance CCLR to make those connections themselves. The additions of the national job database and military career resources features in Naviance CCLR make it a one-stop shop for students to find career resources.

Lastly, students are graduating high school without having learned how to write a resume. This is a key need for students because, with relatively little job experience, their resume speaks more to their character, skills, and accomplishments. Well-written resumes can help students earn scholarships, gain internships or employment, and impress important network contacts. Without learning how to write a proper resume from reputable sources, they may mimic examples they find on the internet, a far less trustworthy source.

While schools and districts have mostly moved away from teaching the nuts and bolts of seeking employment, teaching students how to write a resume helps them acquire a skill with lifelong benefits. Therefore, this vital ability should be prioritized in life readiness programming.

Though Naviance CCLR has traditionally been thought of as a solution primarily intended for researching and applying to colleges, it has many features to help students explore career paths, find work-based learning opportunities, and create a resume/professional profile. Making sure counselors and students are aware of these features gives them access to valuable tools.

Looking Forward

As more and more students lose faith in the value of a college degree, it’s increasingly likely that fewer students will elect to matriculate at four-year colleges. This means that schools and districts need to be prepared to introduce students to the full range of postsecondary paths that are possible. By placing less emphasis on content mastery and more emphasis on preparing students with the skills and experiences that will help them after they leave formal education, schools can help students navigate inevitable life transitions and uncertainty with confidence.

Undoubtedly, the education and workforce landscapes will continue to shift, and students’ postsecondary choices will reflect trends aligned with those shifts. It’s our responsibility as educators to give students as many tools as we can as they work to build a meaningful career and a purposeful life.