Connecticut law requires each local and regional board of education to create a Student Success Plan (SSP) for each public school student, beginning in grade six. The plan must include the student's career and academic choices in grades six to twelve. State guidance describes it as an individualized, student-driven plan that covers academic development, career development, and social, emotional and physical development.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

A plan built on a student's career and academic choices is only as strong as the choices the student knows about. Many students can name only a few careers, colleges or training options. Without regular exploration, the Student Success Plan can become a record that is updated on schedule and rarely revisited.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Connecticut

In Connecticut, high school students earn college credit through dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment courses offered through partnerships between secondary schools and colleges. Public Act 25-99 defines both as postsecondary courses in any academic subject or career pathway for high school students; concurrent enrollment courses are generally taught by high school teachers, while dual enrollment courses are taught by college faculty. The act directs the Connecticut State Department of Education, in partnership with UConn, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities and other institutions, to develop a model agreement between secondary schools and postsecondary institutions. The state budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 (Public Act 25-168) requires the Department to administer a high-need student fee waiver grant program for dual enrollment beginning in fiscal year 2027, and Public Act 26-18 requires the Department to appoint a dual and concurrent enrollment course coordinator by January 1, 2027.

Students who explore careers and college majors early can choose dual enrollment courses that build toward a specific goal instead of collecting unrelated credits, and short daily exploration (for example on a 13th Year™ kiosk) can help them arrive at course selection with a direction in mind.

Official program information: Connecticut State Department of Education (with UConn and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities) →

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 each SSP update. Give students time to look at colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers before they record career and academic choices in the plan.
  • Use the career development component. The Student Success Plan includes career development alongside academic development. Ask students to note what they explored and what they want to learn next.
  • Link exploration to senior-year steps. Beginning with the class of 2027, Connecticut students complete a FAFSA, an institutional aid application or a waiver to graduate. Students who have explored options early come to that step with a clearer purpose.
  • 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 who explore colleges, skilled trades, military service, scholarships and careers on their own time have more to add to the career and academic choices in their Student Success Plan. It supports, and does not replace, Connecticut's Student Success Plan process 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 Connecticut high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.