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BY AMELIA ROESSLER | PHOTO BY KLEINPETER PHOTOGRAPHY | 2025–26 COVER KID KAIYAH P.
C ollege isn’t a golden ticket to success, and it’s no longer the default option. For today’s teens, life after high school could mean a university campus, a welding apprenticeship, a military contract, or launch- ing a small business. The real challenge isn’t choosing college—it’s choosing the right fit. A recent survey found that 90 percent of Gen Z students say they trust their parents to advise them on next steps after high school. The bad news? Parents say they don’t know enough about the vast majority of valuable education and training options their child could pursue and are especially in the dark about anything that isn’t either pursuing a ca- reer directly or getting a bachelor’s degree. After all, there are a finite number of traditional colleges, but a seemingly infinite number of pathways beyond college. And it’s not a glass slipper moment—several options could fit just as well.
THE BIG DECISION Thinking about college seriously starts in high school. Todd Rinehart, a university vice chancellor for enrollment, says even though many higher education schools visit high schools, there is a lot of information out there about applications, financial aid, and what a school is like right on a school’s website. Rinehart says national enrollment in colleges has been trending down recently. He cites a decline in the number of high school seniors and smaller graduating classes as a reason, coming from the birth rates that have not returned since the 2007 recession. “I think what’s concerning in recent years, even before we started to see the decline in seniors in high school, you started to see a smaller percentage of graduating seniors going to college. So in recent years, maybe 70 percent of high school graduates would go directly to college, and in the last couple of
years, that's been closer to 60 percent,” he says. But maybe your student doubts if they could succeed at college. Rinehart thinks oth- erwise. He says students should try to avoid imposter syndrome and questioning whether they are good enough to go to college. He believes they are. “I'm not saying that college is the right match for every person. It certainly isn't, but I think for most students who really want a pathway to college, there's a way to get there, and they can definitely do it,” explains Rinehart Local school systems are expanding op- portunities beyond the traditional four-year degrees for the students who may choose a different path. The East Baton Rouge Public Schools even have an Office of Workforce Development where they offer Career and Technical Education, Work-Based Learned
32 APRIL 2026 | BRPARENTS.COM
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