Young people deserve to graduate from high school prepared to attend college, enlist in military service, or enter the workforce. Employers, college admissions counselors, and military recruiters want candidates who have the necessary technical skills, academic aptitude, and “soft skills” to be successful. Soft skills are taught through social emotional skill building, and they include problem solving, creativity, interpersonal communication, teamwork, collaboration.

But in the U.S., nearly half of all students graduate high school without a clear path forward, unprepared to attend college or enter a career (1). Too many of these young people simply did not have access to opportunities to build the knowledge and skills required to graduate college and career ready. Students need better information, tools, hard and soft skills, and support services if they are to be more prepared for life after high school.

Source: 
1 The Education Trust, 2016 Meandering Toward Graduation: Transcript Outcomes of High School Graduates