According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 66.2% of high school graduates enroll in college classes to attend the spring after graduation. As a high school student, it is becoming increasingly more common to see your peers dive straight into the workforce or invest in their associate’s degree at a two-year school rather than take on the full college path. Not only is it more common, but it is becoming much more accepted by society as schools take a hit from COVID-19. 

Many schools throughout America have shut down in-person learning for the first semester of classes and possibly for the remainder of the school year. Because of this, many students have been hesitant to make a decision on post-secondary schooling especially with a majority of the universities charging the same amount of money for kids to do online classes in their parents’ basements. 

“This year the number [of students who go to college] may change as we do not know what post-secondary schooling will look like next year,” said LHS counselor Jackie Geppert-Anderson. “Many students don’t want to pay to do online school. They would rather wait or do something different as they do not feel online was the best experience for them.”

Here at LHS, the counselors use their classroom guidance activities to assist students when searching for some of their interests, valuable experiences and useful abilities. By doing this, students become more equipped to make decisions on post-secondary schooling. If students do decide to enroll in university, many four year schools do not stop there.

“Some specific degrees take five or six years to earn. This can add up to be about an extra 40 grand,” said Anderson.  

Many education professionals agree that keeping college as an option is the best position to be in at this point in time. Students are able to keep the doors open for any future endeavors when provided the resources they need to make an educated decision on what is best for their lives with all of the current COVID-19 struggles our nation has endured.