Counseling for Career Choice Act

Counseling for Career Choice Act

This bill directs the Department of Education to award grants to states to develop and implement comprehensive school career counseling programs that provide students with effective postsecondary education planning and career guidance services.

The bill requires each program to be aligned with a statewide counseling framework that (1) encompasses the middle grades through grade 12 and postsecondary education, and (2) is supported by at least five stakeholders that include at least one business or industry and at least one local educational agency or secondary school.

Grant funds shall, among other things, be used to

• train and hire school counselors;
• identify regional workforce trends and postsecondary options available in the state;
• establish, improve, or coordinate postsecondary opportunities;
• recommend curricular improvements to better align curricula with workforce trends and available postsecondary opportunities;
• establish partnerships with one-stop centers;
• leverage the resources and emerging technologies being developed by stakeholders to support the counseling framework; and
• evaluate secondary and postsecondary outcomes for individuals served by the career counseling programs.