VOA In a recent survey of 12th-graders, about 40% said the COVID-19 pandemic made them rethink their choice of career or undergraduate degree, and about 10% said it made them doubt the value of college at all. Nirvi Shah of USA Today unpacks the findings. (June 2023).
The lives of students graduating from high school this year were transformed by the pandemic: It changed the careers they want to pursue, what type of college they want to attend or whether they want to go to college at all. Many are struggling to maintain their mental health, while others find themselves more adaptable to change.
“These kids have never had a normal year,” said Geoff Heckman, a counselor at Platte County High School in Platte City, Missouri, who is also chairperson of the American School Counselor Association’s board of directors. “We’ve seen so much change, the first one being with mental health.”
Of this year’s graduating class, who were ninth graders when the health crisis began, more than 40% of students changed their thinking about their college major or future career because of COVID, according to new research published Wednesday from the ACT.
“Before the pandemic I always looked towards college and furthering my academics, but once the pandemic hit, it altered the way I looked at college,” one student told ACT researchers. “It made me struggle in my high school years and made me doubt whether or not college was the best choice down the road.”
How did COVID-19 change high school seniors?
One in 3 high school seniors surveyed by ACT researchers said the pandemic changed their thinking about their future career; about 1 in 4 changed their ideas about what major to pursue and which college to attend; and roughly 1 in 10 said it made them wonder whether they should go to college at all. The conclusions are based on a survey conducted last fall of 1,549 12th-grade students.