Postsecondary Planning in Rural Populations

Foundational Guides

Advance CTE

• This website is focused on Career Technical Education (CTE) and works to educate people on paths and opportunities for students/learners who are interested in the
• This is great for all students, but especially helpful for rural helping professionals to use when working with students who are looking to enter the workforce after high school graduation.

National College Attainment Network (NCAN)

• The NCAN’s mission is to “support members and influence leaders, organizations, policies, and systems across the country to increase equity and excellence inpostsecondary degree access and attainment”.
• This website is a great place to start researching how to better address educational disparities across marginalized groups at your school or in your community or to even get involved in advocacy!

Practical Tools and Platforms

My Next Move (ONET)

• This is a career exploration tool that is friendly for students across all developmental levels but is best suited for middle or high school students. Students can use this tool to search for careers, explore different industries, and even learn more about their interests and how they align with specific jobs.
• This is a helpful supplement to classroom lessons or even individual meetings with students who want to learn more about themselves and/or a career they are interested in.

CareerOneStop

• This tool also offers career assessments, job outlook information, and even allows students to search locally for jobs. It is sponsored by the US Department of Labor and is helpful for people of all ages.
• Students can use this to take assessments and read more in-depth about different

Occupational Outlook Handbook

• This resource offers clear, student-friendly overviews of hundreds of different careers, education requirements needed to have a specific job, work environment, growth projections of that job, and median pay of the job they are interested in.
• This website not only accounts for careers that require higher education, but it also includes more nontraditional careers that require certificates instead of degrees.

Additional Tips

• Partner with local employers to facilitate job shadowing, mentorship, or internship
• Encourage school staff to share their education and work experiences with students and the paths they took to get to where they are.
• Form strong partnerships with families and students based on trust and personal connection
• Learn about the work needs of your community and what resources are available locally for students to pursue their passions and give back to their community if they want to stay locally.
• Get creative with higher education exposure by planning virtual college tours if in-person visits aren’t feasible, invite admissions representatives to Zoom into class or advisory periods, etc.
• Connect career to identity and purpose by helping students explore what they are good at, what they care about, and what kind of life they want to live. This helps them to decide if they want to stay locally or move away.
• Talk about costs of postsecondary education early and often. Break down costs, availability of scholarships, and educate students and families about completing the FAFSA. Partner with local programs who do this, if applicable.
• Normalize non-traditional paths and different ways of reaching career goals that don’t require formal postsecondary education or training such as part-time education and purposeful gap years.