The Nebraska Department of Education describes the Personal Learning Plan (PLP) as both a learning process and a planning document, covering academics, career and technical education, dual credit, workplace learning and activities tied to a student's career goals. The department publishes PLP resources for schools to use. Done well, a PLP grows with the student. Done in a hurry, it becomes a form that gets filled in and forgotten.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

A PLP is only as useful as what students bring to it. A plan written before a student has explored colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers has little to draw on. The same is true of the FAFSA step that Nebraska now ties to graduation: it means more to a senior who already has a destination in mind.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Nebraska

In Nebraska, the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education administers the Access College Early (ACE) Scholarship Program, which pays tuition and mandatory fees for qualified, low-income high school students to enroll in college courses from Nebraska colleges or universities. Students generally qualify when they or their family are approved for a federal need-based program, such as free or reduced-price lunch, or have experienced an extreme hardship affecting family income, or when they are in a designated Career Education program. Courses must be taken for a grade, and the scholarship does not cover costs such as specific course fees, books or supplies. The Commission may limit awards based on available funding.

Students who explore careers early, for example through daily exploration on a 13th Year™ kiosk, are better prepared to choose dual credit courses that move them toward a specific program or credential.

Official program information: Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary 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

  • Start with exploration. Give students time to explore careers and training options before they draft or update a PLP, so the coursework they choose has a purpose.
  • Link the plan to credits. Nebraska's Rule 10 sets a minimum of 200 credit hours for graduation. Use what students discover to guide how they use the credits beyond the core curriculum.
  • Give the FAFSA a destination. Nebraska seniors complete the FAFSA or submit the state's form declining to. Students who have explored options earlier come to that step with a reason to complete it.
  • 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. That steady exploration gives students something concrete to bring to a PLP and to senior year decisions. It supports, and does not replace, a district's own planning 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 Nebraska high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.