High school is an important time for students to prepare for college, their interests and future career. High school is where students are exposed to new ideas and more rigorous course work that will help them form a sense of what their interests are and help them transition to their adulthood. Yet, a 2011 Pew Research article claims that 58 percent of college students come to college academically and socially unprepared, which goes to show that high schools around that U.S. are not sufficiently preparing their students for what’s to come.
With the heavy price tag on college, students must be prepared for the college workloads, take advantage of the resources and push themselves to move on to a higher education or their desired career because their money is on the line. Unfortunately that is not always the case. A 2014 "U.S. News & World Report" article explained that most college students failing to graduate on time can put a significant "financial burden on students and their families.” The article also claimed that the delay in graduation was due to “a lack of guidance and too many choices.”
I believe that providing accessible extra- and co-curricular activities for low-income high school students can help combat this issue because those activities can allow for students to discover what their passions and interests are. In order to make those activities accessible to low-income students, high schools must acquire funding (state or federal) that would go towards offering those students scholarships or fully-funded extra- and co-curricular programs specifically in public high schools. By funding these programs, students are able to go into their future better prepared; the short-term benefit is a diversified population of students involved in extra- and co-curricular activities, and the long-term benefits are prepared students whether they pursue a higher education or the work force. Job requirements are getting more competitive so students need to come out of school prepared for the higher demands of the workforce.
