Q&A: Los Angeles High School Counselor On What Students Want After Graduation

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Once upon a time, college was the dream destination and a guiding goal for high school seniors in Los Angeles and beyond. 

But nowadays things are more complicated, said Christina Sanchez, a school and college counselor at Triumph Charter High School in the San Fernando Valley.

Sanchez, who has worked as a counselor for more than two decades, has put in the time in schools to know what students think and feel about their possible future career paths. 

She said career and technical education is rising in popularity amongst today’s high school seniors, and, as far as she can tell, even some universities are feeling the shift. 

But from her perch at Triumph Charter High, a high-performing, Title I school, Sanchez also said students should be mindful of the path they choose, whether it be college or the workforce. 

“If they are going to college just because somebody told them it’s best, that usually doesn’t work out,” she said. “But I also think they should consider the benefits of a college education.” 

Read on as Sanchez weighs in on why the CTE is ascendent, what colleges are doing to adjust, and whether this shift is good for students. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

University enrollment has declined over the past decade, and vocational programs are rising in that same timeframe. Have you noticed this trend and what do you attribute this to? 

We still have students going to college, but yes it is definitely a declining number. 

I would say there’s more interest in a quick payout. They see that more in trades. So, students are gravitating toward trade school where they can focus on a career and get out sooner. They feel they can make money quicker, and just as much, if not more, as with a college education. 

They’re equating education with money more, especially since the pandemic. Yes, there are obvious connections between those. But, it’s not the only factor, and it really depends what field you go into. 

What are universities doing to avoid a decline in enrollment?

There are still schools like UCLA and UC Berkeley who are very selective. UCLA is not begging anybody to apply.

I’ve definitely seen private colleges sending marketing emails more to get students to apply, and even waiving application fees. Sometimes they say ‘you don’t even need to do the extra work, just send us a transcript.’ Public universities are extending deadlines often as well. 

Community colleges are also increasing and promoting their trade programs more than ever. That’s becoming a focus for them because they’re trying to compete. 

Are there more downsides to a college degree now than in years past, and are students more pessimistic about going to college?

There’s definitely a resistance to taking out student loans. It doesn’t help that parents will often highlight cautionary tales, like a niece or nephew who went to college and is now working retail. 

I haven’t noticed any increases in unemployment rates or underemployment rates. Those are specific instances, not really a trend. When we do hear back from our alumni who went to college, they are almost always working on something related to their degree. I rarely have a student come back and say they haven’t been able to get a job. 

Why are trade careers becoming more interesting to students? 

There are always trending careers, but they ebb and flow. Today, social media has more of an impact on what careers students see. Sometimes I talk to students and ask, ‘How did you even know about that?’ and they say they saw it on social media. 

People highlight their career paths, and students see the best of it. They see what the person chooses to show. Just like it is with people’s private lives, you may not see the bad days or the bad sides of it. They’re not highlighting the negatives. I definitely see that influencing students when it comes to career paths, especially in the last five years. 

What advice would you give to a student choosing between a trade school and a university in this current job climate? 

I think everybody should do what’s right for them. If they are going to college just because somebody told them it’s best, that usually doesn’t work out. But I also think they should consider the benefits of a college education, other than what type of job you can get. I do find that there are benefits beyond that. 

Some are not seeing that job opportunities are wider with a college degree. If you are trained in one industry and you don’t enjoy it, you don’t have as much flexibility as someone with a college degree. You’re 17 years old, how do you know you want to be an electrician? 

When they make the decision, they need to be open to everything so that they know for sure it is the right one for them and not just one they made because they didn’t work to explore their options. 

I think what needs to be done more in schools is career exposure. Students are mostly making decisions based on what they see on the internet, what they read, and random examples. They’re not really experiencing the world of work because we have such an academic focus in our schools. Many schools promote college prep, and it almost seems like career things are considered ‘anti-college.’ 

That might be doing students a disservice to students who don’t get to see all these careers and what they look like. So I do think schools should do more with career guidance. I’m in support of career education, apprenticeships, and dual enrollment, but it should be done for careers you get with a college degree, not just trade school careers. It does seem like when schools do have career programs, they tend to be in the trades. It should be both. 

This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

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