In California, student planning runs through several state structures. CaliforniaColleges.edu, managed by the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), is the state's official college and career planning platform for students in grades 6 through 12. Senate Bill 153 (2024) requires all public schools offering grades 9 through 12, including charter schools, to partner with CCGI and provide transcript-informed accounts to their students under Education Code 60900(f)(3). Education Code 49600 also urges school district governing boards to provide a comprehensive educational counseling program, which includes developing each pupil's immediate and long-range educational plans with parental involvement.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

An account on CaliforniaColleges.edu can show a student's progress toward the a-g course requirements and track college applications. It cannot tell a student what to aim for. Students who have not explored colleges, careers, skilled trades and military options may complete every required course and still have no clear next step. School counselors then spend limited time on first questions instead of real planning.

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 California schools. Students could choose more than one answer, and some responded more than once.

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in California

In California, community college dual enrollment is available under two statutorily defined programs: College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnerships under Education Code Section 76004, and the special admit program, under which a community college district may admit eligible students as special part-time or full-time students under Education Code Section 48800 and related sections. A CCAP partnership is governed by an agreement between a community college district and a school district, county office of education or charter school, and a copy must be filed with the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the California Department of Education before the partnership begins. State law provides that a high school pupil in a CCAP course shall not be assessed any fee by a local educational agency or community college district that is prohibited by Education Code Section 49011.

Students who explore careers early, for example through daily exploration on a 13th Year™ kiosk, can work with counselors to pick CCAP or dual enrollment courses that line up with a transfer goal or career pathway.

Official program information: California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, with community college districts and school district partners →

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 students log in. Give students time to look at careers, colleges and training programs before they work in their CaliforniaColleges.edu accounts, so the tools there serve a goal the student already has.
  • Connect a-g choices to real options. The University of California and California State University expect a 15-course a-g pattern. Students who have explored programs early understand why those course choices matter.
  • Show more than one way to be prepared. The College/Career Indicator on the California School Dashboard counts measures such as meeting UC and CSU requirements, career technical education pathway completion and college credit courses. Exploration helps students see which route fits them.
  • 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 CaliforniaColleges.edu account and to conversations with their school counselor. It supports, and does not replace, CaliforniaColleges.edu, a school's educational counseling program 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 California high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.