If pursued with attention and care, any student completing the Main Program and two years of subsequent study through Running Start will enter college with a broader and deeper education than almost any graduate of a conventional high school. American higher education is changing and contracting. No longer can a student follow the old advice—get a high GPA and standardized test score and attend the best college you can—and expect the promised outcome of a good education and a job, but there remain a myriad of good options for young people both in and outside the university. For some students, that will mean staying local for college, studying mathematics or physics at a selective university, or attending a unique school like Deep Springs, Wyoming Catholic College, or St. John’s College. For other students, that will mean becoming a software developer, apprenticing in traditional brick masonry with a master builder, or hands-on training in permaculture. Whatever the path, the most important thing is for each student to take responsibility for the direction of her life rather than wait for an institution to assign her a future.
College and career counseling for alumni consists of regular one-on-one and group sessions, and students and alumni are also welcome to discuss college and career questions during office hours (Monday & Wednesday, 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.). This is included in Main Program tuition. There is no additional cost.