Wisconsin law requires every school board to provide Academic and Career Planning (ACP) services to pupils enrolled in grades 6 to 12 in the school district. Under Chapter PI 26, those services include individualized support from school district staff to help each pupil complete and annually update an academic and career plan. Pupils also have access to an academic and career planning software tool.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

Wisconsin frames ACP as a set of services, not only a document, and the Department of Public Instruction encourages frequent review of a student's choices and plan. In practice, the plan can still shrink into a set of tasks completed in software once a year. Students need real exposure to options for the annual update to mean something.

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

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Wisconsin

Wisconsin sets two dual enrollment programs in state law. The Early College Credit Program (ECCP), under s. 118.55, is open to high school students in grades 9 through 12 at Wisconsin public, private and charter schools and covers courses at Universities of Wisconsin campuses, private nonprofit colleges and universities, and tribal colleges in Wisconsin. Start College Now, under s. 38.12(14), lets high school students take courses at Wisconsin technical colleges, which do not participate in ECCP. Both programs are overseen at the state level by the Department of Public Instruction.

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

Official program information: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction →

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

  • Treat the software as one part of ACP. Xello is the ACP software selected by the Department of Public Instruction. Pair it with hands-on exploration, so students arrive with interests worth recording.
  • Feed the annual update. PI 26 calls for staff support to help each pupil complete and annually update the plan. Give students time to explore colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers before that conversation.
  • Start in the middle grades. ACP services begin in grade 6. Early, low-pressure exploration helps younger students build curiosity before course choices carry more weight.
  • 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 real interests to the academic and career plan they update each year. It supports, and does not replace, Wisconsin's Academic and Career 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 Wisconsin high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.