College Students Plans are Changing!!

Strada surveyed 1,212 high school seniors (half from last year’s senior class) whose plans had been disrupted by the pandemic.

The survey found:

• Most disrupted high school graduates have revised their postsecondary education plans in some way, with 35 percent of students saying they will choose a less expensive program, 31 percent looking for options closer to home, 21 percent a different major and 18 percent a shorter program.
• Disrupted Black students are more likely than their white peers to have changed their future education plans — with, for example, 40 percent of Black graduates saying they would look for less expensive options, compared to 33 percent of white graduates.
• Sixty-nine percent of disrupted graduates still believe that additional education would help them get a good job and 63 percent believe they would be successful, but only 45 percent believe the benefits of education would exceed the costs.

“The high school Classes of 2020 and 2021 have experienced massive disruption to their educational experiences,” said Dave Clayton, senior vice president at Strada. “In order to help those students reconnect, educators and policy makers should listen to what those students say they need: better guidance, clear information on education’s connection to careers and an easier financial aid process.”