More students and families are asking about post-high-school career pathways that don’t start with a four-year degree. But most schools still measure mainly who graduates and who goes on to college. School counselors see that gap up close.
A new national survey of 600 counselors by Britebound and the American School Counselor Association found that 90 percent report growing student interest in non-degree pathways. And 78 percent say parents support their children exploring these options. Yet only 47 percent of those same counselors say their school measures awareness of non-degree pathways as part of career readiness.
Just over half of counselors (56 percent) say their district does a good job measuring students’ self-discovery and career exploration. But that’s about what students do while they’re in school, not how schools judge success after graduation. Other counselors say data are collected but often unused, measures lean toward college, and reporting focuses more on meeting compliance requirements than helping students.
