Pennsylvania builds student planning into its Academic Standards for Career Education and Work and the Career Standards Benchmark on the Future Ready PA Index. Students create an individualized career plan by the end of grade 8, and it counts as one of the six pieces of evidence collected in grades 6 through 8. In grades 9 through 11, students add eight more pieces of evidence, and at least two must show the plan being put into action.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

A career plan written in the middle grades is only as strong as what the student knew at the time. If exploration stops there, the plan and the career portfolio can become artifacts gathered for the benchmark instead of a record of real thinking. The high school evidence asks students to show the plan in action, and that is hard to do with a plan they no longer recognize.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, dual credit courses are offered through agreements between school entities and institutions of higher education. Under section 1525 of the Public School Code, effective with the 2022-2023 school year, every school entity that enrolls secondary students must enter into at least one dual credit agreement with an institution of higher education approved to operate in Pennsylvania, and must report agreement and participation information to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Department guidance says the cost of tuition, fees and related course materials should be clearly stated in each agreement. The state also awards competitive Dual Credit Innovation Grants to public colleges and universities to expand dual credit programming.

Because offerings depend on each school's agreements, students who explore careers and majors early can pick dual credit courses that fit a goal and transfer well, and steady exploration (for example on a 13th Year™ kiosk) supports that planning.

Official program information: Pennsylvania 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 plan is written. Students create an individualized career plan by the end of grade 8. Time to look at colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers first gives the plan real substance.
  • Revisit the plan in grades 9 through 11. At least two pieces of high school evidence must show implementation of the individualized career plan. Ongoing exploration helps students update the plan and act on it.
  • Connect the plan to graduation pathways. For students graduating in 2023 and beyond, Pennsylvania offers five pathways to meet statewide graduation requirements, including a CTE Concentrator pathway. Students with a clear direction can weigh those options with their school counselors.
  • 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 have explored their options bring clearer goals to their individualized career plan and career portfolio. It supports, and does not replace, Pennsylvania's Career Education and Work standards, a school's Chapter 339 guidance plan 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 Pennsylvania high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.