Young adults are evenly split between saying their school counselors did a great job getting to know them (47%) and feeling they were just an anonymous face in the crowd (48%), according to research by Public Agenda for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Nearly one in five young adults (19%) who believe they were badly counseled delay going to college.
Those who felt their counselors didn’t get to know them also are less likely than those who felt they had good relationships with counselors to receive financial aid information (41% vs. 51%) and to be disappointed in their choice of college (46% vs. 35%). They are less likely to select a school based on academic reputation (41% vs. 51%) or to be offered a scholarship (32% vs. 44%).
Even among young adults who say their counselors took the time to get to know them grade their counselors less than favorably. More than four in 10 (45%) rate their counseling skills as “poor” or “fair.” They rate other school officials more positively. Three in four young adults (75%) say they had a coach or teacher who really inspired them and motivated them to do their best, and 67% say they had a teacher who encouraged them to attend college.
Young adults who fail to complete college are more likely than those who do graduate to come from families with lower incomes and levels of education. Fewer than half of those with college degrees claim their parents generally had financial trouble throughout their childhood, compared to 58% of those who didn’t complete college.
Source: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Kate James, Chief Communications Officer, Foundation Operations, P.O. Box 23350, Seattle, WA 98102; 206-709-3100; www.gatesfoundation.org.
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