Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse opine, “Nearly seven in 10 students have interacted with their college or university career center at least once.” Whereas in 2019, NACE stated that approximately 24 percent of students used their career center for career counseling. Two respected reports with two totally different results; it’s always best to view more than one source. Additionally, surveys state that resources are strapped at innumerable colleges. Here’s an example: The US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that during the 2021–2022 academic year, the national student-to-counselor ratio was 408 to 1—far above the recommended 250 to 1. This critical metric should be significant to any student or parent deciding on a college. Find out what the statistics are at your or your child’s college of choice. Sure, if this is the only factor lacking at the school, then hire a career coach, but don’t put the burden on the school if you didn’t ask.

Here’s some schools listening to students and investing in meaningful career preparation. In 2021, SkillSurvey announced its first ever Career Readiness Leader & Innovator Awards. These awards recognized institutions that demonstrated exceptional commitment to preparing students for the workforce, based on data from 170 institutions using SkillSurvey platforms mapped to the eight NACE competencies (career and self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, team work, and technology). Here are the top ten: Brigham Young University Concordia University St. Paul DePaul University Emory University Indiana University Seton Hall University, SUNY Oswego Temple University The University of Maryland University of Virginia.