Career and technical education (CTE) and college preparation curriculum in high school are often treated as mutually exclusive options rather than integrated, symbiotic tracks. However, increasingly career fields require some postsecondary education, and access to four-year college degrees are important for long-term earnings and mobility. In this…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Design/methodology/approach: This ethnographic study was conducted in a High School Equivalency Program at a large university in the Midwest. Data…

A high school diploma should mean that all students are ready for college "and" a career, but in Rhode Island, it did not. According to a 2019 audit, just four in a hundred Rhode Island seniors were prepared for both college and a career, and more than half graduated without concrete career skills. When the author became commissioner of…

Most college readiness reforms in high school focus on academic preparation for college, while underprepared students who do not intend to enroll in college are often left underserved. Using a unique source of data from essays written by students, we examine the role that high schools play in supporting students who test below college-ready in…

In the last decade, Colorado has increased its efforts and requirements around postsecondary and workforce readiness through the implementation of Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP) in high schools (CDE, 2009; CDE, 2014; CDE, 2020). Although based on career development research, no studies have inquired as to the meaning students make…

College and Career Readiness (CCR) programming during early high school years assists students with planning for effective post-school transitions. Group interventions that address CCR for early high school students permit school counselors, career counselors, career specialists, or teachers to engage with a large number of students at one time…

Based on a qualitative study of school-to-university transition focused on working-class first-generation university students, the aim of this paper is twofold. First, it illustrates the multiple intertwining dimensions of the process of moving from school to university within an 'open-door' admission policy context such as the Italian one.…

This case study examines how relationships with staff in a GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) pre-college program positively influenced the college-going aspirations of Black ninth-grade students. Critical Race Theory and Possible Selves provide an intersecting analytical framework for understanding the…

This study considers whether participation in several out-of-class high school experiences increased the odds that a student would aspire to earn a bachelor's degree, whether these relationships were moderated by the student's race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status, and whether these experiences, considered together, had a cumulative influence on…

The extraordinary expansion of higher education has not been accompanied by more equitable access to universities for various disadvantaged groups. Rural youth is at the heart of this study that draws on secondary data and literature to examine rural-urban disparities in higher education access in two high-participation systems in the Caucasus and…

Can information close socioeconomic gaps in parents' postsecondary aspirations for their children? We administer a survey experiment to a nationally representative sample of U.S. parents, who are also asked whether their child is academically prepared for college. We inquire whether parents prefer their child to pursue a four-year degree, two-year…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between motivation in high school and postsecondary enrollment among 10th-grade students whose parents did not go to college. Specifically, this study (1) identified distinct groups of students' self-reported reasons for attending schools among 10th graders, (2) examined whether these…

A majority of newcomer youth who have recently migrated to the United States encounter a daunting task of mastering an entire high school curriculum in a new language while attempting to attain college readiness. Very little research exists that examines newcomer youths' transitions from high school to college. Utilizing interviews with six high…

It is important to consider the cultural and community assets that influence Black girls' intentions to pursue higher education, such as parental messages on degree attainment and college success. The present qualitative study explored how high-achieving Black women perceived and internalized the college preparation socialization they received…

The Australian Government's efforts to increase the proportion of Australians with university-level qualifications has placed educational aspirations at the forefront of education policy. Despite increasing numbers of young Australians enrolling in higher education, regional and rural students continue to be underrepresented in university…