High School Counselors Value Your Partnership

We could not let counselor appreciation week go by without thanking all school counselors for their work to help students navigate college planning.

School counseling programs improve student learning and behavioral outcomes (Carey & Dimmitt, 2012), and can help reduce the racial disparities in proportions of students taking advanced placement courses (Davis, Davis, & Mobley, 2013).

Counselors can increase the number of underrepresented students enrolling in postsecondary education (Cholewa, Burkhardt, & Hull, 2015), provide critical support and information to foster the career development needs of immigrant students (Watkinson & Hersi, 2014), and increase the number of Hispanic students who apply for college (Marsico & Getch, 2009).

In October of 2021, nearly 1,500 high school counselors answered our survey (we will be publishing our report later this month). Their appreciation for the work colleges and universities representatives do in their high schools was evident throughout the survey. Nearly all high school counselors reported using the resources offered by the college representatives working with their high school. They rated this as the most effective tool counselors had in their work.

We asked them what makes a highly effective high school representative

These are their words:

• Well trained
• Energetic
• Knows the high school and the population they enroll
• Is willing to answer questions and follows up after the visit
• Brings materials the students can take home
• Consistent
• Offers to help with application process and questions
• Explains timeline of application and how admission works
• Encourages students to visit in person (or virtually)
• Offers to connect students with current students from that high school who are currently enrolled or students in their academic area of interest

What makes a good high school visit experience for the students, according to the counselors?

• College reps came prepared with college-specific information plus gave personal insights and experiences.
• The admissions rep was here in person and used specific student transcript examples and college app examples which was very helpful for our students.
• Sending representatives who are EXCITING as well as knowledgeable makes all the difference in the world. The engaging visit = students applying.
• The representatives are very personable, and time is no worry.
• They will not leave until all questions are answered.

Lean on your high school counselors

High school counselors value and understand the influence of the college and university representatives visiting their schools. We know enrollment managers value that relationship too.

In our forthcoming 2022 Cost to Recruit An Undergraduate Student Report (coming in March), we learned that private and public institutions experienced decreases in their budgets allocated to staff travel. For example, private institutions allocated 17 percent of their enrollment budget to travel in 2019 and only 8 percent in 2021; public institutions decreased the budget allocated to travel from 16 percent in 2019 to 14 percent in 2021.

Luckily, enrollment experts understand the value of personal relationships with high school counselors when we asked them what areas they foresee increasing their budgets, privates and public listed travel as their primary investments in the near future! These are welcome news for high school counselors and, most of all, great news for the students and the families they serve!

Continue to train your best admissions representatives and listen to what high school counselors tell us students need to see and experience. And if you want to talk about your enrollment strategies and how you can use all the resources you have to engage students, reach out and set up a time to talk with us. You can also subscribe to receive all of our latest research when it is published.

Here is Luis Navarez, associate vice chancellor for education at the City Colleges of Chicago, with a message honoring high school counselors this week.

References

• Carey, J., & Dimmitt, C. (2012). School counseling and student outcomes: Summary of six statewide studies. Professional School Counseling, 16 (2), 146-153.
• Davis, P., Davis, M. P., & Mobley, J. A. (2013). The school counselor’s role in addressing the Advanced Placement equity and excellence gap for African American students. Professional School Counseling, 17 (1), 32-39.
• Cholewa, B., Burkhardt, C., Hull, M. (2015). Are school counselors impacting underrepresented students’ thinking about postsecondary education? A nationally representative study. Professional School Counseling, 19 (1), 144-154.
• Watkinson, J. S., & Hersi, A. A. (2014). School counselors supporting African immigrant students’ career development: A case study. The Career Development Quarterly, 62, 44-55. Marsico, M., & Getch, Y. Q. (2009). Transitioning Hispanic seniors from high school to college. Professional School Counseling, 12 (6), 458-462.