Students from more than 400 West Virginia schools participate in ‘College Application and Exploration Week’

CHARLESTON, WV – Last week, students ranging in age from pre-school to adult learners at more than 400 schools across West Virginia, participated in hands-on college-planning activities during the state’s annual “College Application and Exploration Week.” The week-long series of events, which include college application and financial aid workshops, panel discussions, scavenger hunts and trivia contests, is sponsored by College for West Virginia (CFWV), West Virginia’s free college- and career-planning initiative coordinated by the state’s Higher Education Policy Commission, Community and Technical College System, and Department of Education.

The week is designed to help more West Virginians pursue a postsecondary credential, which is critical as they work toward their future careers and as the state works to fill employers’ current and future workforce needs. Fewer than one-third of West Virginians hold an associate degree or higher, yet over the next few years, 60 percent of working-aged West Virginians will need a certificate or degree to maintain the state’s current workforce and attract new employers.

Throughout the week, Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia’s Chancellor of Higher Education held roundtable discussions with students at Madison Middle School, Liberty High School, and Herbert Hoover High School to learn more about their plans after graduation and how the state can best support them in reaching their goals.

“The conversations with students were incredibly enlightening and greatly inspiring,” said Chancellor Tucker. “The biggest emerging theme from these conversations was that we have to start talking to students about college through the lens of what it means for their futures – for the long term. What we hear from them isn’t that they want to go to college, but that they want careers – real careers that will allow them to build successful futures. So, as we talk about our state’s college-going rate and the need to help more of our students plan for life after high school, we have to talk about higher education as the best, most promising path to sustainable careers that will allow them to build the lives they see and want for themselves.”

Throughout College Application and Exploration Week, students from participating elementary, middle and high schools, as well as adult education centers, in every corner of the state engaged in activities that allowed them to explore career and postsecondary pathways, as well as promote college readiness. CFWV created toolkits and lessons for educators at all grade levels to use in their classroom during College Application and Exploration Week.

Photos and social media posts from activities throughout the week can be found at https://wakelet.com/wake/ZjQIN72hxlQ8Cr2hzA-0g.

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Follow the West Virginia Community and Technical College System on Facebook and Twitter.

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