Georgia students develop an individual college and career plan before the end of the second semester of the eighth grade. The plan, known until 2025 as the individual graduation plan, is reviewed annually. Under the Top State for Talent Act, it now includes creating and using a GAfutures account and using Georgia MATCH.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

An eighth grader is asked to set a direction before seeing much of what is out there. If the plan is written from a short list of familiar careers and colleges, each annual review starts from the same narrow view. Without exploration, the individual college and career plan can become a form that is reviewed on schedule and then set aside.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Georgia

Georgia's Dual Enrollment program is established by the Dual Enrollment Act (O.C.G.A. 20-2-161.3) and its funding program is administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission through GAfutures. Students in 10th, 11th or 12th grade at an eligible high school may receive funding, with 10th graders limited to Career, Technical and Agricultural Education courses at participating Technical College System of Georgia institutions unless they meet a minimum SAT or ACT score; 9th graders are not eligible for Dual Enrollment funding. Students must be under 22 on the start date of the term and be Georgia residents. For approved courses, the program covers required standard tuition, mandatory fees and required books up to a funding cap of 30 semester or 45 quarter hours, while students may be responsible for optional books or course-related fees such as lab 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: Georgia Student Finance Commission →

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 eighth grade plan. Give students time to look at colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers before they develop their individual college and career plan.
  • Use exploration to prepare for the annual review. The plan is reviewed annually. Ask students to bring one new option they explored to each review.
  • Connect exploration to GAfutures and Georgia MATCH. The plan now includes creating and using a GAfutures account and using Georgia MATCH. Students who have explored first know what they are looking for when they log in.
  • 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 more to each review of their individual college and career plan. It supports, and does not replace, Georgia's individual college and career 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 Georgia high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.