Alaska's planning tool for students is the Personal Learning and Career Plan (PLCP), built in the Alaska Career Information System (AKCIS). The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education describes AKCIS as a comprehensive PLCP resource, and it offers AKCIS Jr. for younger students. Districts and schools build the PLCP into their own programs, which makes the quality of the exploration behind it especially important.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

A PLCP saves a student's goals, action plans, exploration, student work and assessment results. Without real exploration first, those sections can be completed quickly and rarely opened again. Students who have seen a range of colleges, careers, skilled trades and military options have more to bring to the plan.

What students tell us

Across the 13th Year™ network, students are most open early, and their options narrow as graduation gets closer:

  • 32%of 9th graders are weighing more than one path after high school. By 12th grade, 16% are.
  • 53%of 9th graders are interested in more than one career field, compared with 33% of seniors.
  • 11%of 9th graders say they are not sure yet what comes next. Only 2% of seniors say so.
  • 23%of students planning on college are also considering another path, such as the skilled trades, the military, work or a business of their own.

For planning, that means the most valuable exploration happens in the first years of high school, while students are still open to what they find.

Figures come from more than 3,800 responses students submitted at 13th Year™ kiosks and school links across the 13th Year™ network in 2026, not only Alaska schools. Students could choose more than one answer, and some responded more than once.

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Alaska

The University of Alaska offers dual enrollment under Board of Regents Policy P10.05.015 and University Regulation R10.05.015. School districts work with their regional university campus to agree on the dual enrollment options that meet their students' needs, and the school district decides whether a course also earns high school credit. According to the University of Alaska Dual Enrollment Handbook, cost per credit varies by campus, and costs are paid by the student, the school district or an external funder. Through Alaska Advantage, high school students from participating school districts can take 100 and 200 level online courses offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast.

Students who explore careers early, for example through daily exploration on a 13th Year™ kiosk, can work with counselors to choose University of Alaska dual enrollment courses that build toward a specific certificate or degree.

Official program information: University of Alaska (Board of Regents) →

What students need before the planning meeting

The most productive planning conversations happen when a student walks in with something to talk about: a career they read about, a program that surprised them, a question about the military or an apprenticeship. That kind of curiosity comes from exposure, and exposure works best when it is frequent, self-directed and part of the school day.

Practical ways to build exploration into the year

  • Explore before opening the PLCP. Give students time to discover careers and programs first, so the goals and action plans they save in AKCIS reflect real interests.
  • Start the conversation before high school. AKCIS Jr. gives younger students a place to begin. Early exploration gives students a head start before high school course choices begin.
  • Connect plans to the Alaska Performance Scholarship. Each year, districts share Alaska Performance Scholarship information with students in grade nine or grade 10. Students who know what they want after graduation can plan coursework with that in mind.
  • Make exploration self-serve. Let students explore on their own time, so counselor time goes to the conversations that need it.

Where the Student Pathway System™ goes

13th Year™ places an interactive college and career kiosk in a school's hallway, a modern guidance resource students use before, during and after school. Students can explore colleges, skilled trades, military service, scholarships and careers on their own time, then bring those interests to their Personal Learning and Career Plan. It supports, and does not replace, the PLCP, AKCIS and school counselors.

For administrators, the questions are usually privacy and workload. The 13th Year™ platform is FERPA aligned and designed with student privacy considerations in mind. It does not access the high school's student information system, and no student data is sold. Kiosks come at no cost to the school, and 13th Year™ delivers, installs and supports every kiosk, so it is built to support your counselors, not burden them.

See how 13th Year™ supports Alaska high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.