Can I Get A Little Advice Here?

The report examines how much help young Americans receive from the high school guidance system when it comes to choosing a college or career or getting financial aid for college. It finds that 60 percent of those who went on to further education gave their high school counselors poor grades for their college advice, and nearly half say they felt like "just a face in the crowd."

The report finds a correlation between the degree to which students have a good relationship with their school counselors and whether they make decisions that land them at the right institutions and with a plan to pay for college. It finds that students who get perfunctory counseling are more likely to delay college and make more questionable higher education choices. For example, 51 percent of students who felt their counselors made an effort to know them had a scholarship or other assistance in paying for college. Only 41 percent of those who felt they were "a face in the crowd" obtained such aid. Findings show that advisors at higher education institutions receive better ratings, yet there remains room for improvement

The report, based on a national survey of young adults ages 22 to 30, is the second in a series of studies on college completion conducted by Public Agenda and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read the report.