College & Career Readiness Data
YouthTruth, a national nonprofit that harnesses student perceptions to help educators
accelerate improvements in their K–12 schools and classrooms, examined the responses of
165,000 high school students nationwide in July 2015 to understand how they felt their schools
had prepared them to be successful in college as well as in pursuing career. Here are the findings.
Ø Overall, less than half (44.8%) of students feel positively about their college and career
readiness.
Ø Students are more likely to agree that their schools have helped them prepare for college
than that their schools have helped prepare them for the careers that they want.
o 59.6% of students agree that their school has helped them develop the
skills/knowledge they will need for college-level classes.
o 55.5% of students agree that their school has helped them understand the steps
they will need to take in order to apply to college.
o 45.7% of students agree that their school has helped them figure out which
careers match their interests/abilities.
o 48.7% of students agree that their school has helped them understand the steps
they will need to take in order to have the career they want.
Ø 86.9% of students want to go to college, whereas only 2.8% do not. However, when asked
what they expect to do after high school, only 70.9% of students expect to attend either a
two-year or four-year college.
Ø Students were asked whether they participated in support services for future goals, and if
so, how helpful they were.
o 41.7% used college entrance exam preparation. (Helpfulness rating on a 1-5 scale:
3.73)
§ Juniors: 52.1%.
§ Seniors: 54.9%.
o 35.5% used counseling about future career possibilities. (Helpfulness rating:
3.89)
§ Juniors: 37%.
§ Seniors: 47.7%.
o 33.7% used counseling about college admissions requirements. (Helpfulness
rating: 3.90)
§ Juniors: 35.5%.
§ Seniors: 56.3%.
o 32.4% used counseling about how to apply for college. (Helpfulness rating: 3.92)
§ Juniors: 32.4%.
§ Seniors: 59.9%.
o 23% used counseling about how to pay for college. (Helpfulness rating: 3.86)
§ Juniors: 22.5%.
§ Seniors: 43.7%.