Illinois builds student planning into each district's own framework. State law asks school districts to adopt and implement a Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework for grades 6 through 12, using the Illinois model or a customized version. Districts are also asked to offer College and Career Pathway Endorsements in at least one endorsement area beginning with the Class of 2027. The law allows a school board to opt out by board action.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

A PaCE Framework sets out what students should know and do about college and career at each stage. A pathway endorsement asks a student to work within a career area and includes an individualized plan. Both depend on students having seen enough options to choose well. Without exploration, a framework can become a checklist and a pathway choice can become a guess.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Illinois

In Illinois, dual credit is governed by the Dual Credit Quality Act (110 ILCS 27), which sets quality standards for dual credit and gives the Illinois Community College Board oversight and review of dual credit programs offered jointly by community colleges and high schools. Under the Act, a community college district must negotiate a partnership agreement with a school district in its jurisdiction when the school district requests one, and a Model Partnership Agreement developed by the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois State Board of Education applies to terms the two sides cannot resolve. The two agencies describe themselves as jointly committed to expanding access to quality dual credit coursework for Illinois high school students.

Students who explore careers and interests early, for example through daily exploration on a 13th Year™ kiosk, can choose dual enrollment courses that build toward a specific goal instead of collecting unrelated credits.

Official program information: Illinois Community College Board, with the Illinois State Board 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

  • Put exploration behind each PaCE expectation. A district's PaCE Framework covers grades 6 through 12. Give students a simple way to explore colleges, trades, military service and careers so each expectation is met with real discovery.
  • Explore before choosing an endorsement area. Students pursuing a College and Career Pathway Endorsement work within a career area. Encourage wide exploration first, so the area they choose is one they have actually looked into.
  • Feed the individualized plan. ISBE lists an individualized plan as one component of the endorsement. Ask students to record what they explore so that plan reflects informed choices.
  • 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, which gives them more to draw on as they work through a district's PaCE Framework or a pathway endorsement. It supports, and does not replace, a district's PaCE Framework, its College and Career Pathway Endorsement work 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 Illinois high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.