National Survey Suggests Students Gain Little Help from High School Counselors in College Search
by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA
A new national survey released yesterday by the non-profit research organization Public Agenda, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, paints a depressing picture of college advising. In their survey of young adults who graduated from college, the researchers explored how helpful the respondents’ school-based counselor was in meeting their college search, application, and financial aid advisory needs. The respondents found little to cheer.
Two-thirds of those surveyed rated their counselor “poor or fair” at “helping you decide what school was right for you,” with 62% indicating a similar rating in the area of financial aid advice. Over 50% gave “poor or fair” evaluations to their counselors for “explaining and helping you with the application process,” while nearly half said that they were made to feel like little more than a “face in the crowd.”
The researchers were quick to note the conditions under which counselors typically work, including excessive caseloads often double or triple the national recommended number of students. In many school districts, college counseling is one aspect of a counselor’s duties that may include academic advising, crisis intervention, and lunchroom duty.
Little in the report came as a surprise, and one might suspect that as executive director of the professional association representing educational consultants working in private practice, we would greet the findings with some degree of pleasure. In fact, I am deeply disturbed by the findings and place the blame where it belongs: NOT on the backs of hard-working, overwhelmed school counselors, but squarely at the feet of school boards who have refused to recognize the importance of good, well-trained counseling staff.
So let me be clear in terms of the solution:
(1) What I believe is simple: every student deserves great college and career advising, not just those in private school or wealthy suburban districts—or those who can afford the services of an educational consultant. Every child.
(2) Counselor caseloads should not exceed the recommended maximum of 250, as set by the American School Counselors Association.
(3) Every counselor doing college placements should take coursework specific to college counseling—few actually have—like online classes offered through UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine.
(4) A member of the counseling team should be specifically trained to advise students with learning differences on their school search and application process, as well as offer advice on the transition to college.
(5) Schools should find the resources to ensure opportunities for professional development. Counselors must know the latest trends and changes to admission policies, financial aid, and more.
(6) School districts must release counselors to visit campuses regularly, to better understand the social, academic, and community aspects of the college and be better able to advise students and families.
These six recommendations would go a long way to improving counseling by supporting the training and professional development of college counselors and recognizing the limits to effective advice when one is over-worked and under-supported.
Because the educational consulting community supports great counseling for every child, we hope that these changes—which Independent Educational Consultant Association members already benefit from—are extended to school counselors, and we stand with our professional colleagues as they seek the resources they need to more effectively serve students in finding great college matches.
Related posts:
- School District Moves to Contract with Educational Consultants for College Advising; are we moving toward the tipping point?
- Virtual College Fair and IECA Partner to Bring Increased, No-Cost Services to Students
- Better Relations Between School-Based Counselors and Educational Consultants Is Focus of IECA Effort
- Students Use of Rankings in the College Search Process: Less or More Than We Thought?
- National Poll Confirms Family Confusion Over College Finances
Mark – So well said – you have accurately outlined what should be a right for every high school student. How I wish we could pass a law to see that it is. There is this misperception that 17-18 year olds can accurately sort out the plethora of information out there in directories, the web and elsewhere … that tends to overwhelm me at times.
Had you considered adapting the summer institute for school counselors, or developing a shorter program for them? Would be happy to work on a committee to develop such an offering.
Suzanne, an interesting suggestion… I’ll pass this on to the Education & Training Committee, along with your generous offer to assist!
For the last few months, the standing members of the College Committee have been discussing ways to effectively reach out to school counselors to work together collaboratively and to show our support for the work that they do. Yesterday afternoon, in our monthly conference call, we agreed to support the recommendations that Mark has put forth. We encourage all IECA members to stand in unison as we collectively advocate with our school-based colleagues for systemic changes that will benefit all students.
As a former School Counselor, the results in this study saddened me because I hate to think of my former students walking out of high school with no contact or connection with me. However, I firmly believe that it is next to impossible for a School Counselor to fulfill the many roles they are often assigned. How can the same person who spends months dealing with the logistical and organizational nightmare of the master schedule also be an effective advocate for the struggling drug-using student while also being a knowledgeable and careful college advisor while also being the SSD contact person and weekend SAT administrator? The skill sets are not necessarily overlapping, although I have encountered dedicated and exceptional counselors who manage to do all those assignments well. The exception rather than the rule. What graduate program prepares any counselor to do any of those jobs well? I feel like advocating a smaller caseload, however critical to the survival of school counselors, does not address the root of the problem. Why not go all out and advocate for counselors to be able to do each job the way it should be done, by reassigning those tasks that do not need a counseling background, such as registration, scheduling, test administration, so that counselors can actually spend their time with their students. I could even get behind the idea of separating the guidance roles from the college counseling roles, although with some hesitation. I hope that this study prompts us nationally to ask what we want and need specifically of trained school counselors, rather than continuing to use that office as the dumping ground for all the mismatched tasks that no one else can or will do.