Just half of new grads plan to attend college

New research reveals why students are taking a less traditional route after graduation. Contrary to popular belief, only half of recent high-school graduates are planning to attend a four-year college or university.

That's according to a new survey of 1,000 recent public high school students and their parents, which found just 22% felt "very prepared" for life after graduation.

And parents agree: less than half (43%) believe their child is ready for the "real world" after graduating high school.

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Learn4Life, results found one in two students are taking a less traditional route. About a quarter (24%) plan to immediately enter the job force after high school, while a fifth (21%) are planning for a two-year college or university, like a community college.

Others are looking to go to a trade school or get a certificate (9%), take a gap year (7%) or join the military (4%).

"Traditional public high schools are built to prepare students for a traditional four-year college/university — but we're seeing a shift in what students would like, and what they plan to pursue post-high school," Shellie Hanes, Learn4Life Superintendent of Schools, said in a statement. "It's important that schools adjust, changing their methods and their lesson plans to focus on individual students and what their post-high school plans might be."

When asked what they wished their high school focused more on, 36% of graduates said they would have liked to learn about post-high school life — beyond going to college or university. With so many opting for less traditional next steps, 37% vied for more exposure to job skills and 20% desired more application of classroom material, outside of testing.

This was in addition to learning about real-world skills (49%), mental health support (41%) and life skills like conflict resolution or stress relievers (41%). They'd also appreciate courses on financial literacy (40%) to be incorporated into their high school education.

"Although disappointing, it's not surprising that only a fifth of high school graduates feel ready for the next step. The way public high schools are currently set up, there's not a chance for the individualized, student-centric personalized learning we find so successful," Hanes said.