\n<\/p>\n
A new study finds that parents of middle and high school students are increasingly open to pathways beyond a traditional four-year degree.<\/p>\n
Britebound, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping middle and high school students navigate postsecondary pathways, conducted the survey of more than 2,000 parents last year. It shows that while most parents still favor college, that preference has dropped from 74\u00a0percent in 2019 to 58\u00a0percent in 2025. Meanwhile, 35\u00a0percent of parents now see career and technical education as a strong fit for high-achieving students\u2014up sharply from just 13\u00a0percent in 2019.<\/p>\n
Julie Lammers, president and chief executive officer of Britebound, said young people are increasingly aware of the range of postsecondary options, and parents are now following suit.<\/p>\n
Young people are \u201cexperiencing higher education differently, and that is shaping much of what parents are saying,\u201d said Lammers. \u201c[Parents] are reacting to the questions their children are asking and trying to find the best way to help them navigate the next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lammers noted that the changing landscape of higher education has increased public recognition that nondegree pathways can lead to strong outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat concern we originally saw from parents about \u2018I don\u2019t know what this is, I don\u2019t know where this will lead my child\u2019 is decreasing slightly,\u201d Lammers said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think we\u2019re there yet in getting parents comfortable with these decisions, and the data reflects that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The findings:<\/strong> The study found that parents feel equipped to guide their children on whatever pathway they choose. Specifically, 79\u00a0percent said they would be a good resource in helping their child navigate a nondegree pathway, including 41\u00a0percent who strongly agreed.<\/p>\n In addition, parents reported high levels of familiarity with some nondegree pathways. About 95\u00a0percent said they are at least somewhat familiar with trade schools, and 93\u00a0percent said the same about apprenticeships or internships.<\/p>\n Lammers said increased resources\u2014from school counselors to educators\u2014have helped drive this confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cEducators, parents and young people are having these conversations in much greater detail than ever before, which boosts parents\u2019 confidence in helping their children make decisions,\u201d said Lammers.<\/p>\n Over all, parental support remains strong across all post\u2013high school choices. About 88\u00a0percent of parents have talked about postsecondary plans with their kids, and most support whatever path their child chooses.<\/p>\n Parents recognize both the benefits and the trade-offs of nondegree routes. About 98\u00a0percent of parents saw at least one benefit, such as hands-on learning, but 89\u00a0percent still expressed concerns about career growth or income potential. This includes 32\u00a0percent who cited limited career growth, fewer opportunities and lower income potential.<\/p>\n Lammers said parents\u2019 growing familiarity with nondegree pathways is giving them more confidence in discussing options with their children.<\/p>\n \u201cAs more young people participate in these options and we see the data, it becomes a much easier conversation for parents,\u201d said Lammers.<\/p>\n She added that seeing concrete outcomes and success stories makes parents more comfortable supporting nondegree paths.<\/p>\n \u201cParents don\u2019t necessarily want to encourage young people down a path they don\u2019t see employers validating,\u201d she added, noting that many employers are shifting to skills-based hiring and other ways of recognizing learning beyond just a traditional bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n The implications:<\/strong> The study notes that clear outcomes data, side-by-side comparisons of costs and career trajectories, and localized directories of reputable work-based learning providers could serve as valuable tools for helping parents decide which pathway is right for their child.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no one-stop shop for this information anymore,\u201d said Lammers. \u201cThat highly personalized information gives parents a resource that is desperately needed when they\u2019re trying to decide among a variety of options and don\u2019t necessarily know which way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Lammers said parents with lower familiarity may benefit from tailored outreach through schools, community organizations and trusted online channels.<\/p>\n \u201cLeaning on those trusted entities that a parent might go to for advice and guidance really is an important aspect of this work,\u201d said Lammers. \u201cAll of this information needs to come from multiple sources in a way that can be clearly deciphered and embraced by parents\u00a0\u2026 so it is a constant drumbeat to make sure they have the information they need.\u201d<\/p>\n Lammers said the ultimate goal is to help parents and students make more intentional, informed decisions about their futures.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically a lot of kids have defaulted into a two- or four-year degree because they didn\u2019t know what their options were,\u201d Lammers said. \u201cWe want to give young people a much longer runway\u2014starting no later than middle school\u2014to think about what they want for themselves, so they can align their high school opportunities and then their postsecondary opportunities to really meet those goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Get more content like this directly to your inbox. <\/em>Subscribe here.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new study finds that parents of middle and high school students are increasingly open to pathways beyond a traditional four-year degree. Britebound, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping middle and high school students navigate postsecondary pathways, conducted the survey of more than 2,000 parents last year. It shows that while most parents still favor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1449,496,143,146,630,5307],"class_list":{"0":"post-42371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-career","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-embrace","11":"tag-kids","12":"tag-parents","13":"tag-technical"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}