Get the Encourage Family Guide

Help Your Student Explore Options for Life After High School

We designed this free booklet to help you support your student(s) as they prepare for life after high school.

All the information in this booklet comes from the myOptions® Encourage® College and Career Planning Program. It's our goal to connect you and your student(s) with helpful resources so they thrive after high school.

Download the Family Guide

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What's Inside

This guide is primarily a roadmap to help families like you navigate the college search and application process. We know college isn't for everyone, so you'll also find helpful tips for students who want to jump straight into a career or even the military! Whatever path your student chooses, we'll help steer them in the direction that's perfect for them!

Success strategies and advice for grades 7-12.
Future-focused worksheets and activities to complete together.
Helpful insight into:
- Academic success
- Competitive college admissions
- Career discovery
- College exploration
- Finances and scholarships
- Transitioning to college

Download the Family Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What is myOptions Encourage?

myOptions Encourage is a free college and career planning program providing streamlined resources to broaden your impact and enhance your efforts in guiding all students toward their paths after high school. myOptions Encourage serves about 1 million students annually across 5,000 school districts and 13,000 high schools in all 50 states.

Encourage is the name of our free college and career planning app for students. Find it online through your browser, on iOS and Android.

Why should students download the Encourage app?

The Encourage app is free and combines goal setting and milestone tracking with resources for exploration, career planning, and paying for college. Explore careers, match with colleges and scholarships, define your goals, and plan your future—all in one app. Find it online through your browser or in the app store for iOS and Android.

How is the program free?

Students with the Encourage app have the option of being contacted by our network of partnering colleges and universities looking for students like them. This network allows us to offer the program for free and provides previously unknown or out-of-reach opportunities, making college more accessible.

Students can control their recruiting preferences at any time and the app experience is the same whether they are included in recruitment or not.

Where does student data go?

Students who opt-in to recruitment from our network can expect information to be sent directly to colleges, universities, educational service providers, and career service providers for communication purposes. Unlike other college and career planning resources, we strictly utilize student information for educational purposes and never share student data with commercial marketers.

Where do you source information about scholarships, colleges, and careers?

The college, scholarship, and career data in the Encourage app comes from respected national sources including SuperCollege, O*NET, and IPEDS so you can rest assured your students are making decisions based on credible information.