WA colleges deliver strong return on investment, but career guidance falls short, report finds

Washington is doing a good job making college affordable, but a new report finds universities aren’t doing enough to help students turn their degrees into successful careers.

The nonprofit Strada, which focuses on connecting education with economic opportunity, gives Washington a 73% positive return-on-investment rating for higher education.

The state’s strengths include making college affordable and giving students accurate information about what to expect in the workplace.

But there’s a significant gap when it comes to career guidance.

“Washington has been a real leader in making higher education affordable, so compared to other states, we see a lot of strength there, especially at the community college level, but even at the bachelor’s degree level.” Nicole Torpey-Saboe, Strada’s vice president of research, told KIRO Newsradio. “But we want to encourage states to build on not only making sure that students get into college and can afford it, but that they’re prepared to succeed after.”

Few students receive comprehensive career guidance, report finds

Just 3% of students at four-year colleges and 7% at two-year schools said they receive all three elements of what Strada considers quality coaching: personalized career guidance, timely information about job opportunities and earnings, and support setting goals and overcoming barriers.

Torpey-Saboe said colleges need to do more to connect education with the workforce and start much earlier in a student’s academic career.

“What this report is really focused on is how do we make college worth it,” Torpey-Saboe said. “If you want to ensure that students have success beyond the completion of a degree, we need to think about the kind of experiences they’re getting so they’re getting career guidance early and often, and if they’re getting experiences that allow them to apply their learning in the workforce.”

Rather than waiting until students are about to graduate to send them to a career center, Torpey-Saboe said career planning should be part of the academic advising process from the beginning.

That means helping students understand which careers align with their interests and strengths, what different degrees can lead to, and what graduates from their programs actually earn.

“The most successful programs we’ve seen are ones that try to connect with students early in their educational journey, so not waiting until a student is about to graduate for their first visit to the career center, but instead, making career planning intertwined with academic planning,” Torpey-Saboe said.

“Just as students have to visit an advisor to pick their courses, at that same time they should be thinking about what are the career fields that are aligned with their interests and their strengths, and what kind of career paths could they go into with a certain major, or you know what can they earn?” she added.

The report also highlights the importance of internships, apprenticeships, and other opportunities to gain real-world work experience before graduation.

“Any kind of experience where you’re actually able to work in that environment before you graduate is really important, and it tends to be more common for certain fields of study,” Torpey-Saboe explained. “We see for engineers and actually business majors, it tends to be more built in. But then other majors, you know, your history, English, social sciences, that’s not as often the norm, but it’s really important, and we see huge benefits for students who do participate.”

Career coaching linked to greater participation in paid work experience

Students who receive all three elements of quality career coaching are more likely to participate in paid work-based learning than students who receive none — 51% compared with 42%.

Torpey-Saboe said those opportunities can be particularly difficult for first-generation college students who may not have family members or professional connections to help them find internships.

She said colleges should do more to connect students with employers and help them find and apply for those opportunities. States can also help smaller businesses afford to host interns through subsidies and other support.

Family members are already playing a significant role in career guidance. Among students who received guidance, 25% at public four-year colleges and 27% at public two-year colleges identified family as their most valuable source of advice.

Torpey-Saboe said Washington has another advantage: The state does a strong job collecting data on what happens to students after graduation. But she sees an opportunity to make that information more widely available so students and families can better understand the potential outcomes of different degrees.

The report’s broader message is that the question shouldn’t just be whether college is worth the investment, but how colleges can make sure students get the most out of it.

As Torpey-Saboe put it, the goal is to ensure students have success beyond simply completing a degree.

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