In Kansas, the Individual Plan of Study (IPS) is a State Board of Education Outcome. The Kansas State Department of Education states that all students, beginning in middle school, will develop an IPS based on their career interests. An IPS has four minimum components, which include strength finders and career interest inventories, course selections for grades 8 through 12 based on career interests, and a postsecondary plan.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

The IPS starts with interests and builds toward a postsecondary plan. An interest inventory can point to a career cluster, but it cannot show a student what a college, a trade program or a branch of service actually offers. When students skip that step, the postsecondary plan in the IPS is filled in from a short list of options they already knew.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Kansas

Kansas high school students can earn college credit through Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships between high schools and eligible postsecondary institutions, governed by the Kansas Challenge to Secondary School Pupils Act (K.S.A. 72-3220 to 72-3224) and Kansas Board of Regents policy. Through Excel in CTE, created by Senate Bill 155, the state funds tuition for Kansas high school students in approved technical courses offered by Kansas technical and community colleges. Colleges may not charge these students tuition but may assess certain fees, such as for textbooks, tools, or protective equipment.

Students who explore career fields early, for example through daily exploration on a 13th Year™ kiosk, are better prepared to choose Excel in CTE or concurrent enrollment courses that build toward a specific credential or degree.

Official program information: Kansas Board of Regents →

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

  • Turn inventory results into exploration. After students complete the strength finders and career interest inventories in their IPS, send them to explore the colleges, trades, military options and careers connected to those results.
  • Explore before writing the postsecondary plan. The IPS includes a postsecondary plan. Give students time to compare several kinds of next steps before they record one.
  • Link the IPS to postsecondary assets. Beginning with the Class of 2028, Kansas graduation requirements include completing at least two postsecondary assets as defined by the State Board. Use exploration to help students choose assets that match the direction in their IPS.
  • 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 what they find into the postsecondary plan in their IPS. It supports, and does not replace, the Kansas IPS 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 Kansas high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.