College and Career Pathway Exploration and Planning
Key Issue Overview
Many students find it challenging to connect their educational experiences with potential college and career options. Without clear and contextualized exploration of both, they often lack the knowledge, self-efficacy, skills, and support needed to make informed decisions about their futures. This challenge is particularly noticeable in under-resourced communities, where exposure to a wider array of pathways is limited and institutional capacity to provide tailored support is constrained (Warner-Griffin & Liveoak, 2023).
When students lack sufficient planning resources, such as individualized advising or accessible information about educational and labor market outcomes, they may make choices that do not align with their aptitudes, aspirations or financial circumstances. These gaps in guidance can deepen existing disparities in college and career outcomes, particularly for students who have limited networks or adult support to help them navigate their postsecondary choices. While much attention has been focused on advising students toward four-year college pathways, those pursuing career and technical education often receive less support. More evidence is needed to understand how best to support these students. In this section, we explore the evidence for what makes college and career exploration and planning effective, highlighting both the promise and the limitations of current interventions.
Numerous studies in this section emphasize that providing students with accurate information and personalized coaching can improve postsecondary decision-making. Interventions such as earnings data (Bleemer & Zafar, 2018), College Scorecard information (Hurwitz & Smith, 2017), and informational and motivational text messages (Fryer, 2016) have been shown to increase students’ awareness of the long-term value of education and positively influence their expectations, particularly among low-income families.
Career coaching shows even greater promise when efforts are personalized. North Carolina’s career coaching program (Phillips et al., 2024) increased participation in dual enrollment and CTE programs and shifted students’ postsecondary intentions toward 2-year colleges and career pathways. Similarly, Get the Picture?! (Zoblotsky et al., 2020) found that targeted advising for students with disabilities improved their preparedness for life after high school, with participants more likely to meet transition readiness benchmarks.
These findings suggest that while providing information on education and career outcomes is essential, students benefit most when they receive individualized, sustained guidance—especially those from underserved groups or pursuing non-traditional pathways.
Providing Information About Expected Returns to College and Career
What the Studies Tested:
- The studies tested whether providing information about the expected returns to college and career influences students’ decision making, their beliefs on returns to education, and motivation. While all four studies used different methods to present the expected returns—an online tool (Blagg et al., 2017), text messages (Fryer, 2016), survey of consumer expectations (Bleemer & Zafar, 2018), and SAT score sends (Hurwitz & Smith, 2017)— the common rationale behind these interventions was that providing more information would help students make more informed decision and change in their beliefs in education.
What the Studies Found:
The studies found varying effects of providing information about expected returns to college and career. While one study (Blagg et al., 2017) did not find meaningful effects of providing detailed information, the other three studies (Fryer, 2016, Bleemer & Zafar, 2018, Hurwitz & Smith, 2017) found that providing information about financial returns of college increased parents’ likelihood of sending child to college, students’ understanding on value of a college degree, and their interests in colleges where graduates earn more.
Click the dropdowns below to read summaries of each study included in the overall synthesis. Unless noted otherwise, all reported effects are statistically significant at the p<.05 level. Studies are linked (see author name and publication date). When available, we link an open access version of the study. Explore our methodology
Study: Rethinking Consumer Information in Higher Education (Blagg et al., 2017)
Intervention: Providing access to information on average labor market outcomes for college programs. This study evaluated GradPathVA, an online tool designed to help high school seniors make more informed college choices by providing information about key outcomes at the institution and academic major-level.
The study compared students who used a detailed version of the tool, which included information on costs, financial aid, graduation rates, and post-graduation outcomes, with those who used a basic version showing only institution names, locations, and available majors.
Context:
- The study was conducted across 25 high schools in Virginia, focusing on 5,740 seniors in the graduating class of 2016.
Research Design: Randomized Controlled Trial
Findings:
- Access to the GradPathVA informational tool had no effect on whether students enrolled in college or on the colleges and majors selected.
- Data collected by the study team indicates low usage of the GradPathVA website.
Study: Intended College Attendance: Evidence from an Experiment on College Returns and Costs (Bleemer & Zafar, 2018)
Intervention: Providing information about the financial returns and costs of attending college. This study tested the effect of providing heads of households with information about either the average financial returns or costs of attending college.
Context:
- The experiment was embedded within an existing representative survey of U.S. heads of households, the Survey of Consumer Expectations (conducted monthly by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York). The study added a set of questions to the January 2015 survey, aimed at addressing misperceptions about the value and cost of college, particularly among lower-income and non-college-educated households. The study was conducted at two time points: an initial survey in January 2015 and a follow-up in March 2015.
- The analytical sample consists of 1,077 respondents, including 305 with children under 18. The respondents with children under 18 were asked additional questions about their children’s potential future college enrollment.
- Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups:
- Returns Treatment: Received information about the average earnings advantage of college graduates over non-college workers.
- Cost Treatment: Received information about the average net costs of attending public and non-profit private universities.
- Control Group: Received no additional information.
Research Design: Randomized Controlled Trial
Findings:
- Returns Treatment: Providing information about the financial returns of college led to…
- 4.9 percentage point increase in parents’ expected likelihood of sending their child to college and a 2.3 percentage point increase in individuals’ likelihood of recommending college for a friend’s child.
- The impact of the intervention was larger for low-income families as well as parents without a college degree.
- Among low-income families, the intervention increased college attendance expectations by 8.5 percentage points for low-income families, compared to 2.3 percentage points for higher-income families.
- For parents without a college degree, college expectations rose by 6.1 percentage points, compared to 3.2 percentage points for those with a college degree.
- Among low-income families, the intervention increased college attendance expectations by 8.5 percentage points for low-income families, compared to 2.3 percentage points for higher-income families.
- Cost Treatment: Providing information about the average net costs of college
- Had no effect on parents’ expected likelihood of sending their child to college for the full sample or by family income / first generation college status.
Study: Information, Non-Financial Incentives, and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Text Messaging Experiment (Fryer, 2016)
Intervention: Free cell phone and daily informational text messages about the link between human capital and future outcomes. This study involved providing middle school students with free cell phones (with 300 minutes / month) and sending daily text messages with motivational and informational content about the link between education and long-term life outcomes. The intervention aimed to assess whether these simple, low-cost messages improve students' academic motivation, beliefs, and achievement.
- A total of 183 unique text messages were sent over the course of the experiment, including both motivational and informational content.
Context:
- The study was conducted within Oklahoma City Public Schools during the 2010-2011 school year. The sample included 1,907 sixth- and seventh-grade students across 22 schools.
- The district serves a high proportion of minority students, many of whom are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
- The study also tested the impact of a second treatment that provided students with additional phone minutes (for talk or text) as an incentive for reading performance.
- The study team randomly assigned students to one of three treatment groups or a control group:
- Information Only: received a free mobile phone and one informational or motivational message per day about the value of education.
- Incentives Only: received a free mobile phone and earned additional phone minutes for reading performance (Accelerated Reader points).
- Information and Incentives: received a free mobile phone, daily informational/motivational messages and earned additional phone minutes for reading performance.
- Control: received none of the following: free phone, daily text messages, additional phone minutes for reading performance.
Research Design: Randomized Controlled Trial
Findings:
- The informational text message treatment arms had some positive impact on students’ knowledge of the relationship between education and life outcomes
- Students who received the informational texts (either in the information only treatment or information + incentives treatment) showed small gains in knowledge about specific facts they were told (e.g., that college graduates earn 54% more than college dropouts and that high school dropouts are more likely to go to prison than high school graduates) but the intervention did not improve their broader understanding of how education affects life outcomes (i.e., the unemployment rate of college graduates, a fact that was not shared in the text messages).
- The informational text message treatment arms had no impact on student effort, attendance, number of suspensions, or same-year state test scores.
- There is some evidence that the information only treatment had a positive effect on college entrance exam scores (taken four years after the treatment).
- The incentives only treatment had no effect on any of the outcomes measured.
Subgroup Findings
- The information intervention’s impact on students’ knowledge of the relationship between education and life outcomes was larger for male students and students not receiving special education services.
Study: Student Responsiveness to Earnings Data in the College Scorecard (Hurwitz & Smith, 2017)
Intervention: This study examined how providing students with earnings data through the College Scorecard impacts their college choices.
- The U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard includes information on the graduation rates and median earnings of graduates from different colleges, aiming to help students make more informed decisions about where to attend based on potential financial costs and returns.
Context:
- The study used data from nearly 36 million SAT score sends from U.S. students in the 2010-2016 graduating cohorts, covering over 1,600 four-year colleges. SAT score sends were used as a proxy for student interest in applying to specific colleges, allowing the authors to detect changes in behavior before and after the release of the College Scorecard in 2015.
Research Design: Difference-in-differences
Findings:
- The study found that students were more likely to show interest in colleges where graduates earned more. Specifically, for every 10% increase in a college’s reported graduated earnings, there was a 2.4% increase in SAT score sends to that college.
- The authors find little impact of the College Scorecard on changes in overall enrollment numbers or student composition of enrolled students, aside from a small increase in the average SAT scores at institutions that showed higher reported earnings.
Subgroup Findings:
- High School Type: Students attending private high schools were more influenced by earnings data than others. For every 10% increase in graduate earnings, they were 4.2% more likely to send SAT scores to that college.
- Students from public and charter schools showed little or no change in their interests.
- SAT Scores: Students with SAT scores of 1,100 or higher were more responsive to earnings data than students with lower scores.
- Race/Ethnicity:
- Asian students showed the strongest response (5% more likely), followed by White students (2.4% more likely to send SAT scores to higher-earning colleges).
- African-American students were about 1.7% less likely to send scores to higher-earning colleges for every 10% increase in reported earnings—a trend the authors suggest may reflect a small crowd-out effect.
- Hispanic students showed no significant change in behavior.
- Parental Education: Students whose parents had more education were more likely to respond to college earnings data.
Career Advising and Planning
What the Studies Tested:
- The studies investigated how structured, school-based career advising influences students' educational and career planning. One study (Phillips et al., 2024) focused on the impact of providing personalized advising in high school on students' career readiness, while the other explored whether introducing career exploration activities in middle school enhances students' awareness and planning behaviors (Chaplin et al., 2010).
What the Studies Found:
The studies indicate that career-focused advising can positively influence students, but its impact varies at different educational stages. The high school program demonstrated measurable benefits, particularly in students' participation in dual enrollment and CTE, as well as their postsecondary intentions. At the middle school level, career planning activities showed modest improvements in career awareness and planning behaviors, especially for students whose parents have lower education levels.
Click the dropdowns below to read summaries of each study included in the overall synthesis. Unless noted otherwise, all reported effects are statistically significant at the p<.05 level. Studies are linked (see author name and publication date). When available, we link an open access version of the study. Explore our methodology
Study: Roads to Success: Estimated Impacts of an Education and Career Planning Program During Middle School (Chaplin et al., 2010)
Intervention: Middle school career and education planning program. The Roads to Success (RTS) program is a school-based career and education planning program aimed at increasing student engagement and helping students connect their education to future career opportunities. It provides guidance through career exploration, education planning, and skill development and is delivered via weekly sessions for students in grades 7 and 8.
Context:
- The study took place in low-income public schools in New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with over 1,400 students from grades 7 and 8. The schools were located in both urban and rural areas, and more than half of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Research Design: Randomized Controlled Trial
Findings: We report findings on the three confirmatory outcomes measured. The study also examined a number of additional exploratory outcomes
- The program had no effect on any of the three confirmatory outcomes measured: motivation to go to school to learn job skills; learning and study habits and preparation; school absences and negative behavior.
Study: Implementation and Impacts of Career-Focused Advising (Phillips et al., 2024)
Intervention: Career-focused advising in high school. North Carolina’s career coaching program places community college staff as advisors in public high schools to support students’ college and career readiness. These coaches work primarily with 11thand 12th graders, offering one-on-one advising and helping students navigate dual enrollment opportunities. While career coaches are integrated into existing school structures, their engagement with students and staff varies across schools.
Context:
- The study sample included 371 public high schools across North Carolina and over 500,000 students. 161 of the schools in the sample received a career coach at some point during the study period (in either the 2019-20 or 2020-21 school year).
- Over half of the schools with coaches were in a rural area and approximately 40% were in counties ranked in the top tier of economic disadvantage.
Research Design: Difference-in-differences (school-level model) and Propensity Score Weighting (student model)
- The student level model compares students who met with a coach at least one time with similar students at schools that did not receive a career coach.
Findings:
- School-level findings: Compared to schools without a career coach, schools with a career coach experienced…
- A 2.7 percentage point increase in dual enrollment participation during HS
- A 2.9 percentage point increase in student intention to pursue employment after graduation and 2.2 decrease in student intention to attend a 4-year college.
- A 1.6 percentage point decrease in student enrollment at four-year colleges after graduation.
- No impact on average cumulative HS GPA, intention to enter the military after HS graduation, or enrollment at a two-year college after graduation.
- Student-level findings: Compared to similar students who did not meet with a career coach, students who met with a career coach…
- Earned more CTE dual enrollment college credits (+0.22 credits) and overall dual enrollment credits (+0.40 credits).
- Were 4.4 percentage points more likely to plan to attend a 2-year college, and 2.8 percentage points less likely to plan to attend a 4-year college (no effect on employment or military intentions).
- Were 3.2 percentage points more likely enroll in a two-year college after high school graduation (no effect on four-year college enrollment or overall college enrollment).
- Subgroup Findings: We report only the subgroup findings where there was a statistically significant difference in effect between the subgroups examined.
- Race/ethnicity: Meeting with a career coach led to an average increase of 0.52 dual enrollment credits earned for White students but had no effect for non-White students.
- 11th Grade CTE Coursetaking: Meeting with a career coach had larger impacts for students who had taken at least 1 CTE course in 11th grade. For students with a prior history of CTE involvement, meeting with a career coach led to an increase in total number of CTE courses passed (.08 more courses) and an increase in two-year college enrollment after HS graduation (+4.8 percentage points).
College and Career Readiness for Students with Disabilities
What the Study Tested:
- The study (Zoblotsky et al., 2020) tested the impact of four years of personalized support for high school students with disabilities on their college and career readiness by building self-determinations skills.
What the Study Found:
- The study found that students in the program were more than twice as likely to be considered ready for college or a career (“Transition Ready”) compared to their peers not participating in the program. Students were identified as Transition Ready if they earned a high school diploma and met Kentucky Department of Education’s requirements for either Academic or Career Readiness.
Click the dropdowns below to read summaries of each study included in the overall synthesis. Unless noted otherwise, all reported effects are statistically significant at the p<.05 level. Studies are linked (see author name and publication date). When available, we link an open access version of the study. Explore our methodology
Study: Get the Picture?! Final Evaluation Report (Zoblotsky et al., 2020)
Intervention: This program (Get the Picture?!) offered one-on-one support to high school students with disabilities through Career Strategists and school-based Support Teams. The program aimed to improve students’ college and career readiness, with a focus on building self-determination skills.
Context:
- The study was conducted in nine public high schools across rural, high-poverty school districts in South Central Kentucky.
- The study focused on ninth-grade students receiving special education services who were pursuing a regular high school diploma. Students received services for up to four years during the intervention, which ran from 2015 to 2019. Outcomes were measured through spring 2019, and data collection concluded in March 2020.
- The final sample included 93 treatment students and 345 control students. Students who received the intervention were compared to similar students from across 18 schools that did not receive the intervention.
Research Design: Propensity Score Matching
Findings:
- Students who participated in the intervention were more likely to be Transition Ready compared to students not in the study.
- Students were identified as Transition Ready if they earned a high school diploma and met Kentucky Department of Education’s requirements for either Academic or Career Readiness.
- Get the Picture participants were more than twice as likely (2.15 increased odds) to achieve a Transition Readiness status compared to their non-participant peers.
- There was no difference in behavioral outcomes (e.g., in-school suspension) between program participants and non-participants.
- Assessing Needs and Planning Gaps
Before implementing interventions, schools must understand what students already know and what they need. A clear picture of students' postsecondary interests and knowledge gaps helps tailor advising strategies. Does your school collect data on students’ postsecondary intentions and career interests through surveys or advising records? Are students aware of various pathways, including two-year colleges, trade programs, military service, apprenticeships, and local employment? Does your planning reflect the full range of student interests, including direct-to-work options? - Pairing Expected Returns Data with Financial Literacy Instruction
Providing earnings and return on investment data can guide decisions, but it only becomes actionable with financial literacy. Is financial literacy embedded into the curriculum across grade levels? Do students learn essential skills like budgeting, evaluating loan terms, and understanding FAFSA? Are they given opportunities to link education costs and future earnings to real-life financial choices? - Simplifying Financial Information
Complex financial information can overwhelm students and families. Simplification makes guidance more effective. Are visual aids like charts and infographics used to explain key financial concepts? Do you have tools to help students compare costs, aid, and earnings across education options? - Contextualizing Information and Tailoring Messaging
Students interpret information through their identities and experiences. Tailored, culturally relevant messaging is more impactful. Have you considered how rural identity, race, income, or parental education affect how students engage with this information? Are there alumni or trusted local figures who might be effective deliverers of these messages to boost relevance and trust? - Collaboration with Local Colleges and Employers
Local partnerships can expand opportunities and reduce advising burdens. This is especially critical for rural schools (Warner-Griffin & Liveoak, 2023). What colleges or training centers in your area could you collaborate with to share data on job placement, earnings, and financial aid? How could you work together to expand dual enrollment or CTE offerings? Which local employers might be open to supporting students through mentorships, internships, or job shadowing?