Career Counseling: Now and Future Forward
Career counseling is the process of assisting learners in exploring work options and preparing them to enter and succeed in that world. It is consultation and specific advice to help them make career decisions. Career counselors help learners understand the relationship between personal qualities, talents, education, training, and the workforce environment. As a result, learners investigate career options related to their personal interests and labor market information to help ensure an informed career decision.

The proposed Career Counseling programming features the following curriculum approach, among others:

• Dropout Prevention: CTE programming has the largest measured effect size of the dropout prevention strategies. According to the Gates Foundation, 81% of students who dropped out reported needing more real-world learning (relevancy).
• Graduation Rates: Students in CTE courses have an increased graduation rate over non-CTE course takers. Students taking:

• 1 CTE course results in an average 15% increase in graduation rate.
• 2 CTE courses in the same program area increase the graduation rate by 20%.
• 3 CTE courses in the same program area increase the graduation rate by 28%.

Finally, a CTE-related associate degree or credential will earn the holder between $5,000 and $15,000 more per year than a person with a humanities or social science associate degree. Eight years after their expected graduation date, students who focused on career and technical education (CTE) courses while in high school had higher median annual earnings than students who did not focus on CTE.

Students who take 3 CTE courses earn 18%, or about $212, more per month than a typical high school graduate. Finally, a U.S. high school graduate’s median income with no CTE credential is $30,000 per year; with a CTE credential/license it is $42,000/year.