10 Takeaways from the National College Attainment Network 2024 Conference #NCAN2024

I was fortunate to be able to attend the National College Attainment 2024 Conference, and I spent 3 days immersed in sessions where I learned and connected with other like-minded leaders from across the country.?

During the final remarks, we were encouraged to share what we learned and absorbed at the conference. These are my top 10 takeaways after hearing from so many insightful leaders who are doing important work. I think you’ll see overlap in them, and I hope you’ll join me in developing a sense of urgency around them.?

#1. College is still worth it?

Despite the rhetoric around college being unaffordable, generally useless, and unnecessary, it’s still economically and socially a positive investment. Can college be outrageously expensive, yes. I’ll address that in another piece. But, it isn’t just an important milestone (still), it’s actually more important than ever. Going to college leads to job options, and, especially for students who have limited financial means, it can change the trajectory of families for generations into the future.

The problem that we’re facing is that the word college has become political. The fact that some folks can be successful without a college degree provides a story that it's not important or that all kids don't need to go. This is a false narrative because although it is possible to be successful without a degree, it's far more unlikely (and harder). It's still the best path, for most students, to go on to earn a degree (from 2- or 4-year institutions after they graduate from high school, and it's best that we help students on that journey versus telling them that it's "okay" to not earn a degree or certification.

Leadership Action: We have to tell a more compelling story about college. The fact is that everyone already knows that going to college is better than not going to college. Yet, there’s a sentiment that it’s okay to decide to not attend. School leaders can take action by attacking any notion that “college isn’t for every student" and begin to build a "college going culture" in our schools.

#2. School leaders can create a college going culture in schools

To the point above, a college going culture won’t happen on its own. It takes leadership. The obvious first step is to eliminate the “not all kids will go to college” mentality. But, that’s not enough.?

There are schools in America where large percentages (90-100%) of students apply to college. Unfortunately, there are also schools in America where very small percentages of students apply to or attend college. The major barrier is the need for a mindset shift above all else. That said, if every student creates a postsecondary plan (2- or 4-year college, trade school, military, etc) as part of their high school experience, we can begin to make that shift for students and staff.??

Leadership Action: Start by knowing your data. Use the National Student Clearinghouse . What percentage of students are already heading to college? Are they going to 2- or 4-year institutions? Which schools are most popular for your students? What is your persistence rate from their first year to their second year? Know the data and then do something about it.?Make sure that all students have a planned that's aligned to their goals after high school and that reflects the realities of the data you can analyze about their likelihood of success.

#3. FAFSA, FAFSA, FAFSA

Every single session I attended talked about improving the completion rates of the FAFSA form. The schools and districts that presented on this all had tracking systems to ensure that all students completed the form, and some of the states where they came from have mandates and policies that require the form to be completed in high school. Despite that, 40 billion dollars were left on the table last year that could have gone to support economically challenged families with the cost of college. The b is not a typo.??

The bottom line is that we’re missing opportunities to support more students who might need financial assistance just because they’re not completing this form. As a former secondary school leader, this problem is actionable and solvable at the school level, regardless of supports from policy makers and supervisors.?

Leadership Action: If you’re a state or district leader, consider a policy. If you’re a school leader, develop a tracking system and then “be annoying about it,” which is a verbatim quote from one of the leaders who presented their system.??

#4. Students need help during the school day

The college and career planning process is cumbersome, and students need help with it during the school day . It’s great to have evening events to engage and inform parents, but doing the work to support students can’t be left to chance; just because parents came to an event, doesn’t mean that they’re going to follow up after the event.?

The ownership of college readiness, exploration, and application can’t be left with the family and home time. We must take steps to walk students through their options beyond high school, how to reach their goals, and what they need to do (as early as elementary and middle school) to be prepared.?

Leadership Action: We’re seeing the emergence of modified schedules in middle and high schools to support advisory periods for things like social and emotional learning. The key is to integrate college and career planning into these periods as well, everything from college/career exploration to resume building to essay writing.?

#5. The vast majority of high school students want more career exposure before they graduate?

One major reason why students don’t feel prepared for college and why they don’t apply to college is because they don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. In fact, many students don’t even know what kinds of careers are available to them or what career fields are booming and paying well in their region.?

Starting as early as 4th and 5th grade, students need to be exploring careers, making connections between school and work, and coming to conclusions about the degrees and certifications that they need to reach their postsecondary and life goals. Ultimately, this is about helping young people realize the contributions that they can make, the feeling of success and value that they can have, and the long-term connection between doing well in school and having a life of significance and happiness.?

Leadership Action: School and district leaders should be building pathways , creating work-based learning opportunities, developing industry partners, inviting outside guests to present, getting kids onto college campuses, holding career fairs, and more.??

#6. Counselors need tools and time

Taking into account all of what has been mentioned so far that schools need to do to support this work, the staff need tools, resources, and time if we expect them to do more. And, let’s be candid, lots of these items fall on counselors who are already overwhelmed. (As an aside, we need more counselors in schools!) Counselors need more support, and they need better tools and deeper professional development to accomplish school and district goals regarding college and career readiness.?

What I found at NCAN is that the school staff who are focused on college and career readiness, sending more students to college than others and tracking what matters, are using tools. They have anything from an in-house homegrown platform, they have consultants to support them, or they’re using a comprehensive platform. In this regard, as far as I can tell, this is what sets schools apart from one another–the tools and resources at their disposal.?

Leadership Action: Build or discover new processes, tools, and platforms that can help counselors and school staff to reach new heights by getting the work done without a ton of extra stress and more to do. Send a team to NCAN. Go on a journey to adopt the best tools possible.?

#7. Elevate student voice and interests?

I’ve always been a proponent of student voice in schools and classrooms. I hold a strong belief and educational philosophy that every student should speak in every class every day, students should do more presenting, and student groups should advise school leaders as to how they can make the learning experience better. The talkers are the learners, and learning to collaborate with a diverse group of thinkers is about the most important durable skill that we can teach to students.?

In the arena of college and career readiness, elevating student voice also means using surveys and assessments that evaluate and analyze their career interests, personal and professional strengths, future aspirations, and more. This data can then be used to point students in the right direction regarding match and fit for colleges, majors, and possibilities that they wouldn’t have otherwise explored outside of school–another reason to do this work during the school day.?

Leadership Action: At a minimum, school leaders should develop student surveys to gather information about how students feel about school–do they feel supported, do they feel a sense of belonging, do they feel prepared for their next steps, etc? To take this to another level, schools can purchase surveys and data instrumentation that are already vetted as accurate and reliable measures.?

#8. Other costs related to college

Something else that came up over-and-over at the NCAN conference is that the published costs of college are mostly fake news. Generally, what universities publicize as the cost of attending is not the full picture. In many cases, something is missing from the calculation. It could be that they aren’t including the housing costs (especially for students who live off campus), they aren’t including the cost of meals, they aren’t including transportation costs, or they simply aren’t including move-in costs for dorm life.?

These “related” costs are a big deal for underserved populations and first-generation attendees. As is the case, even scholarships and financial aid to offset or contribute to these costs doesn't fully cover it. These "other costs" simply come at a burden to students, many of whom didn’t consider such costs when they started their journey, leading to stop-out and drop-out for unfortunate reasons that no one predicted.?

Leadership Action: It’s super important to educate students about the whole cost of college, not just tuition. Some students and their families are uninformed and under-informed about how to calculate the total cost of college. Students should not only learn how to calculate their proposed debt but also be able to compare their out-of-pocket expenses (after scholarship awards and aid) per the colleges that they have to choose from.?

#9. Any student who needs or wants an on-campus job should have access

One thing to look out for, especially for first-generation students and students with limited financial means, is the ability to work on campus if need be. A major thing that students cite as a reason to not attend college or to stop-out is that their job hours or job location is not conducive to campus course scheduling. Aside from the cost itself, another factor that prevents students from attending is that they feel the responsibility to work to support themselves and/or their families.?

With on-campus jobs, students don’t have to travel long distances to work or worry about the hours of the job that might conflict with the course schedule that they need for degree completion. Counselors, school leaders, and other support staff can learn over time which schools offer on-campus work experiences, which have limited options, and which make this part of the experience more difficult to obtain. That kind of information helps to steer students in a direction where they can be most successful.?

Leadership Action: As indicated above, we can learn a ton by simply asking the right questions of our students and knowing more about the college where they want to attend. The first step is to know if students have anxiety about needing to work while they’re attending school. That’s as easy as including that question on a survey in their senior year. The second step is literally reaching out to colleges and universities to find out more about this aspect of campus life. It’s highly likely that your high school is primarily funneling students to a limited number of institutions–maybe 5-7 or so top choices. We ought to have strong relationships with these pipeline entities to know about things like on-campus work opportunities.?

#10. There’s good work happening all across the country but there’s more to do

I have to say that I left NCAN refreshed and reflective but not relieved. I learned about the major barriers to college attainment that prison inmates and ex-inmates experience; I learned about the amount of money that could be going to low income families but isn’t; I learned about the lack of connection that gets made between education providers, K-12 systems, higher education, and companies that offer solutions; and I learned about the lack of access that too many students in America still have to an education after high school.?

I was refreshed about the fact that there are so many people who are committed to this work, and I’m certainly reflective about my path in making the dent that I can in the role that I have. I even felt pride and nostalgia in some of the things that I’ve done to help students get into college who might not otherwise have gone and things that I’ve done to get students into colleges that they had the means to pay for but might not have otherwise been accepted. But, I still have a pit in my gut about the work ahead.?I hope you feel the same.

Leadership Action: We all need a sense of urgency around this work. Every graduating class that goes by is another one where we might have left a marginalized student slip through the cracks. Systems leaders, K-12, need to shift their thinking from getting students across the stage to making sure that each of them has a postsecondary plan that is aligned to their needs and interests. It’s hard work, and it’s heart work, but it’s worth every once of our time and effort.?

Strong hearts to the front!

Do you want to discuss any of these items or learn about resources/consultation that can support this work? Book 30 minutes with me, and we’ll do a deep dive into your next steps .