Delaware regulation states that every Delaware student in grades 8-12 shall have a Student Success Plan (SSP). The state defines it as a written plan which sets post-secondary goals based on a student's career interest. Plans are created in 8th grade, or when a student enters a Delaware district or charter school in grades 8-12, and are revised annually as necessary.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

The SSP starts from a student's career interest, and an 8th grader may have seen very few careers up close. If that interest is a quick guess, every goal built on it is weaker. Without ongoing exploration, the annual revision can become a form to update, not a plan the student believes in.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Delaware

Delaware sets statewide rules for dual enrollment and dual credit through Delaware Department of Education regulation 14 DE Admin. Code 506, which requires public schools to adopt policies on dual enrollment and awarding dual credit. For students who elect to participate, dual enrollment and dual credit are included in the student's Student Success Plan, and districts and secondary charter schools must show these courses on the high school transcript. The regulation states that no student may be denied access to dual enrollment courses because of the student's or family's inability to pay, and the Department states that the Delaware Higher Education Office reimburses high schools for costs for any student who receives TANF or SNAP (Direct Certification) benefits. The student cost of an academic dual enrollment course is determined by each high school, while dual enrollment courses taken as part of a CTE career pathway program have no associated course fees.

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: Delaware Department of Education →

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 the 8th grade SSP is written. Give students time to look at careers, colleges, skilled trades and military service before they name the career interest their post-secondary goals are based on.
  • Connect the SSP to the Career Pathway. Delaware's graduation requirements include a three-credit Career Pathway. Exploration helps students choose that pathway with more confidence and set SSP goals that match it.
  • Revisit exploration before the final year. By a student's final year of high school, the SSP identifies the steps to transition to the next phase of the career plan. Students who keep exploring can name those steps more clearly.
  • 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 bring a stronger career interest to their Student Success Plan. It supports, and does not replace, Delaware'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 Delaware high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.