Counseling Conference Encourages College Alternatives

The Indiana Youth Institute is working with counselors on promoting all options after high school. (photo credit: Claire McInerny / StateImpact Indiana)

The Indiana Youth Institute wants to help school counselors focus more on non-traditional postsecondary routes – essentially, options beyond a four-year college. That’s one of the goals of the Institute’s counseling conference being held this week.

Indiana Youth Institute Program Director Kate Coffman says universities don’t need much help pitching the traditional four-year route…and that’s why she says the Institute wants to help counselors promote alternatives, such as apprenticeships, the military, and industry certifications.

“So if you find a student who is kind of that hands on, enjoys building things, then getting them connected to classes that are taught at their career and technical education center, or classes that might be in their high school that involve STEM or robotics,” Coffman says.

A 2014 Indiana Chamber of Commerce study says 90 percent of counselors report spending less than half their time on college and career readiness activities. But Coffman says simply adding more counselors is expensive and, frankly, not realistic.

“We can help counselors work smarter,” she says, “and bring in teachers and things who are seeing every kid in the high school and maybe use staff in a way that they’re taking some of those administrative duties off the counselors.”

Indiana’s student to counselor ratio is 541 to one, the ninth-highest in the country.

The Indiana Youth Institute wants to help school counselors focus more on non-traditional postsecondary routes – essentially, options beyond a four-year college. That’s one of the goals of the Institute’s counseling conference being held this week.

Indiana Youth Institute Program Director Kate Coffman says universities don’t need much help pitching the traditional four-year route…and that’s why she says the Institute wants to help counselors promote alternatives, such as apprenticeships, the military, and industry certifications.

“So if you find a student who is kind of that hands on, enjoys building things, then getting them connected to classes that are taught at their career and technical education center, or classes that might be in their high school that involve STEM or robotics,” Coffman says.

A 2014 Indiana Chamber of Commerce study says 90 percent of counselors report spending less than half their time on college and career readiness activities. But Coffman says simply adding more counselors is expensive and, frankly, not realistic.

“We can help counselors work smarter,” she says, “and bring in teachers and things who are seeing every kid in the high school and maybe use staff in a way that they’re taking some of those administrative duties off the counselors.”

Indiana’s student to counselor ratio is 541 to one, the ninth-highest in the country.