Education and Career Planning in High School

A large proportion of high schools across the country have adopted education and career planning requirements intended to help students prepare for postsecondary education and to facilitate successful transitions to the labor market. As of 2020, 34 states required students to complete an education and/or career plan (ECP) in order to graduate. However, despite the widespread adoption of such requirements nationwide, there has been little research on how students who participate in planning fare when it comes to preparing for and transitioning to postsecondary education. To fill this gap, this REL West study seeks to provide policymakers with national evidence about the education and career planning elements associated with students’ college-going behaviors. This study used student and counselor survey responses from a nationally representative longitudinal dataset (the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009) to examine the relationships between students’ participation in three core elements of education and career planning during high school and their application, coursetaking, and enrollment behaviors associated with the transition to college. Students who developed an ECP upon first entering high school in grade 9 were no more or less likely to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, complete a college preparatory curriculum, apply to college, or enroll in college than students who did not participate in such planning. However, for students who received support from a teacher or a parent to develop their ECP and for students who met with an adult in school to review their ECP at least once a year, developing an ECP was significantly and positively associated with several college-going behaviors. In light of these findings, states might wish to pay close attention to how ECP policies are designed, especially with regard to the supports that students receive in the planning process.