College and Career Counseling and Planning

Ongoing college and career counseling and planning, starting as early as middle school, help students understand how their educational choices and performance are connected to achieving their future aspirations.

What is powerful about Succeed 2020’s approach is the coupling of college and career since educational pathways help to determine career pathways. To succeed in today’s economy, most young people will need to earn a postsecondary degree, credential, or certificate that is aligned with viable career opportunities. Even students who enter the labor market directly after high school need higher skill levels than ever before as well as the ability to enter postsecondary education or training at a later point.

Succeed 2020 views college and career counseling and planning as ongoing and an integral part of every student’s middle grades and high school experience. As students mature and explore different career options, their interests and skills will evolve. From early adolescence onward, students need help from knowledgeable and caring adults to cultivate and understand how to match what excites and motivates them with career and postsecondary pathways.

Succeed 2020 and the REAs are conducting a variety of activities to improve college and career counseling and planning. For example, Succeed 2020 supported the development of a North Dakota specific-version of Roads to Success, a guided curriculum designed to integrate college-and career-planning resources within classroom lessons.