Open Campus set out this year to better understand how young people learn about post-high school options and to explore ways to improve access to that information. Working with a team of local ambassadors in Chicago and Houston, we spoke with more than 200 community members about how they navigate college and career options after high school.
We learned a lot about where people get information — and what information they lack. We also learned about the challenges they face, and the resources they wish they had.
“I feel like after high school I do not have all the information I need to be fully successful. For example, they do not teach you about how to present yourself during interviews, how to support yourself financially, doing taxes, and overall key aspects of moving on to adult life,” a University of Houston student in the Spring Branch neighborhood told us.
Join us Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. EST for a virtual conversation about our findings and what’s next. Attendees will hear an engaging panel featuring voices from Chicago and Houston. Register here.
Speakers:
- Stephanie Quintana, recent graduate, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Jessica Barrera, student, University of Texas at Austin
- Juliet Stipeche, executive director, Gulf Coast Workforce Board
- Dominique McKoy, executive director, To&Through Project at The University of Chicago Urban Education Institute
Our research on life after high school is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and American Student Assistance.
About Open Campus
Founded in 2019, Open Campus is the only nonprofit news organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to higher education. It’s built on an innovative collaborative model, combining a national newsroom that knows higher ed deeply with local newsrooms that know their communities deeply. Open Campus has put local reporters on the higher-ed beat in partnerships with 14 newsrooms around the country. Learn more about our model.