COLLEGE & POST-SECONDARY EXPLORATION
College Planning Should Not Start in 12th Grade: A Four-Year College Planning Framework
2-minute read / June 22, 2026
By the time many students walk into a counselor's office asking about college, they have already spent years deciding whether college is possible for them.
The 2026 College Planning Study, which surveyed nearly 1,800 high school students, found that college awareness and future planning begin much earlier than many schools' advising structures assume. Students form beliefs about college through family conversations, school culture, social media, and the opportunities they see around them every day.
Yet college planning is often concentrated in the final years of high school, when timelines become urgent, and options may already feel limited.
To help counselors support students earlier and more intentionally, Encourage developed a simple, one-page Four-Year College and Career Planning Framework. The framework helps counseling teams align activities, conversations, and resources with students' needs from 9th through 12th grade.
The Challenge
If you are a school counselor, you probably know this moment well.
A student sits down and says, "I think I want to go to college, but I don't know where to start."
As the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that the student is not just missing information about applications or deadlines. They are still trying to answer a more fundamental question:
Is college even possible for someone like me?
By senior year, many students have already developed beliefs about whether college is attainable, worthwhile, or realistic. Those beliefs are shaped over years, not months.
The study highlights how early college awareness begins. Nearly three out of four students (74%) reported seeing college posters or banners in their school, and more than half later searched online to learn more about those institutions.
College planning rarely begins with an application. It begins with exposure, awareness, and conversations that help students imagine future possibilities.
A Four-Year Approach
Students' needs change throughout high school. What they need in 9th grade is very different from what they need in 12th grade.
The Four-Year College and Career Planning Framework helps schools provide the right support at the right time:
9th Grade: Build awareness and confidence about postsecondary options.
10th Grade: Explore interests, strengths, careers, and educational pathways.
11th Grade: Evaluate options, prepare for applications, and build financial aid awareness.
12th Grade: Complete applications, make decisions, and successfully transition after graduation.
The framework also helps counselors identify opportunities to engage families, teachers, community partners, and college representatives throughout the student journey.
Why It Matters
When college and career planning is distributed across all four years, students have more time to explore possibilities, ask questions, and make informed decisions.
It also creates a more sustainable approach for counseling teams managing large caseloads and competing priorities.
School counselors play a critical role in helping students see opportunities they may never have considered. The earlier those conversations begin, the more likely students are to believe that their future is full of possibilities.
Download the Free Four-Year College and Career Planning Framework
Get the one-page framework designed to help counseling teams organize college and career planning across all four years of high school and ensure students receive the right support at the right time.
Meet the Author
Dr. Raquel Bermejo is an education researcher focused on improving college access and success through data-driven insights and student-centered research. With more than a decade of K–12 teaching experience, she brings a strong background in education, curriculum development, and advocacy for equitable higher education opportunities.
Raquel Bermejo
Director of Thought Leadership
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